Naruto: A Warriors Crisis
by Draco Kamikaze
Summary: Naruto is transported to the world of the Olympians by the Kyuubi. Now, he must find his way home. But with the people there in trouble, he must make a choice; his new friends, or his home. Naruto/Percy Jackson and the Olympians crossover - Xover.
1. Prologue

**To all my loyal fans, I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself. This idea was burning a hole in my head, and wanted OUT. I will be continuing work on Naruto Chuuten as soon as I fix a problems I've been having with the storyline.**

**I decided to try out talking as Naruto in first-person. Needless to say, it's a bit of a challange.**

**Please, enjoy.**

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Prologue: I Blow Myself Up

Is this thing on? Yeah? Oh good.

Hi, my name is Naruto Uzumaki, former member of the ninja village known as Village Hidden in the Leaves. I suppose I could explain what the Leaf Village is to you; but all you need to know for now is that I learned most of what I know about fighting from there. I'm getting off topic; you're probably more interested in the actual adventure in this story.

Hm, I suppose a good day to begin would probably be the day Pervy Sage decided to try adding a couple of new things to my training regime.

Pervy Sage, otherwise known as Jiraya the Toad Sage, had taken me from the Village Hidden in the Leaves to be trained. Unlike most of my normal training that I would have gotten from the Village Hidden in the Leaves, it was far more hands on, and was far more difficult if your stamina wasn't able to keep up with it. Trust me, even a stamina freak like me continually wound up lying on my bed each night wondering how I had made it back to my room. We were currently in the city of Higurashi; a city a good ways outside of Wave Country.

He actually suggested it early in the morning, over breakfast if I remember right. I was so shocked, I nearly spewed my food on him in a rather comedic fashion. Luckily for me, I was able to swallow my food before I spoke. "You want to try what?"

Pervy Sage sighed. "I think the best shot we have at creating this technique is to draw on the Kyuubi's chakra, in bulk. So we're going to test just how much power you can take and can control later today. It will be a learning experience, for both of us."

I sat back, thinking it over. The technique that Pervy Sage had told me about sounded highly dangerous to use for any normal ninja. But, with the Kyuubi's chakra powering it...it just might work. I grinned at him, a feeling of excitement coming over me. "When do we get started?"

Pervy Sage chuckled, shaking his head. "We'll have to do it later this evening, after your standard training. You seem to draw on the Kyuubi's power best whenever you're a bit more tired from your usual activities. We'll also have to make sure that we make sure to keep our training away from everyone else. Just in case something goes wrong; for their safety and our own."

I nodded to myself. Pervy Sage was still talking for a little bit, explaining the different excersises that we'd be going over. I'm not really sure what half the things were; I was too busy thinking on how I was going to draw out more of the Kyuubi's chakra. It was easy enough when I was asking for 'rent' on any other occasion, but taking more could be potentially dangerous. Of course, don't let it be said that I shy away from a challenge. In fact, I was pretty sure that I was going to have fun trying to figure this out.

It would only be later that I would look back and realize how stupid I am.

As it was, I followed Pervy Sate out of the hotel we were staying at, my eyes quickly taking in my surroundings. Pervy Sage had kept me locked in my room for the past two days and had told me to read some books he had left for me. Since I had been exhausted from the previous months of strenuous activities, I felt that a few days of rest might actually be good for me. I'm sure that my friends would laugh if they heard that. Me, actually doing what a teacher told me to do. And on top of that, _reading books _for reasons other than for fun would probably end up making them die laughing. As it was, I did actually learn some pretty cool stuff, but why he wanted me to read books on science I don't know.

"Did you read any of the books I left for you?" Pervy Sage as we walked down the street. As I nodded, a small grin crossed his face. "Good. Now follow me."

He turned into a quiet little restaurant, which surprised me a bit. I was half expecting him to drag me off to one of his 'normal' stopping points for 'research'. We walked in, got a table for two, and were quickly seated. Still confused, I gave Pervy Sage a confused look.

He had a serious look on his face, one he only had during serious training and fights. "Naruto, this is an important exercise, so pay close attention."

I leaned forward, waiting expectantly for him to explain what he the training was. However, he remained silent, acting casual as we were asked for our orders. As soon as our waitress had left, he glanced at me. "How many men are currently in the room?"

I blinked. "What?"

"How many men are in the room?" Okay, that's not exactly what I was expecting. Heck, it wasn't even connected to any of the books I had read. I turned around, trying to get a look at the people around us, only to be stopped by Pervy Sage. "Without looking."

I gave him a frustrated look. "How am I supposed to know that without looking?"

Pervy Sage shook his head. "A good ninja takes in his surroundings the moment he enters a room. You can never really know when someone is an enemy in our profession. You have to be cautious, and aware of everything."

My expression turned into one of surprise, I hadn't really thought of anything like that, though that didn't really explain what that had to do with the books I had read. Grumbling to myself, I closed my eyes, trying to remember how many people had been on the room when we came in. Unsure of who was a guy and who was a girl, I threw out a wild guess. "Four?"

Pervy Sage shook his head. "How many employees are working right now?"

"I don't know."

"How many couples?"

"I don't know."

"What color was our waitresses eyes?"

"I don't know!" I was beginning to get frustrated with his questions. It felt like we were just going in circles.

Pervy Sage sighed. "We've got a lot of work ahead of us."

-:-

We spent then next half of the day just doing that exercise. I got a bit better, now that I understood what I was supposed to be looking for. I still missed more than half of the questions, but I was certain that I was noticing a lot of the things I hadn't before. Not that I really paid much attention in the first place, but that was besides the point.

Shortly after lunch, we went outside of the village we were staying in for strenuous combat practice. I'd been getting a lot better thanks to Pervy Sages help, not that I planned on telling him that yet. He'd probably believe he hadn't taught me right because we hadn't visited the hot springs enough. Not that I would particularly hate going to the hot springs. After all, they are relaxing...and I'm still a guy.

Finally, as the sun began to fall behind the mountains, Pervy Sage decided that it was time to prepare ourselves. I tried not to cry out in relief. My chakra reserves were drained, and I was pretty sure that if we had continued to train, I wouldn't have been able to go through with the next part of our training. Then again, it was only due to my amazing stamina that I was able to keep moving for a bit.

We moved a bit further away, towards a more barren area. Settling in, we set ourselves up. Within moments, we'd set up a perimeter to help us try to control the Kyuubi's chakra.

As I worked on the perimeter, Pervy Sage had a strange looking frog pop out of his mouth; strange meaning its upper body was a frog, while its lower half was a scroll. I'm not joking, the scroll opened up with words and everything. After a moment of talking to the frog and fiddling with some of the words on it, he turned to me.

"I need to see your necklace."

"Why?" I asked, confused by the request. The necklace he was referring too was the one that used to belong to the First Hokage, and that I had won from Tsunade, the First Hokage's granddaughter. It was my prized possession, and I didn't go anywhere without it. Pervy Sage had never asked me to take it off either, which is why I was confused by his request.

"The necklace is designed to keep the Kyuubi's energy suppressed. Taking it off will help us release the Kyuubi's energy. It should speed up the process, and help us achieve our goal earlier." he stated.

I bit my lip in thought. I didn't really want to take it off, but if it was inhibiting my training...

I didn't think twice as I took it off and handed the necklace to Pervy Sage. I needed to get stronger to bring back Sasuke, and nothing would stop me from fulfilling that promise.

I would later reflect on that moment as the stupidest thing I've ever done (I'm being serious, _THE_ stupidest thing), and that my opinion of being able to make unstoppable promises was wrong. Anything can be stopped; even my unbreakable promises were no match for what was going to happen.

"Are you ready?" I nodded. "Alright, let's try this out."

He placed his hand on my seal, a strange feeling of dread and excitement rushing through me. Something big was coming. He gave it a small twist, like he was partially opening a jar, and took a step back. I looked at myself, waiting for the rush of chakra that I was accustomed too. Nothing happened. I looked at Pervy Sage, unsure of whether or not it had worked. I was just about to ask if I was supposed to feel anything when it happened.

That old, familiar energy began to rush into me.

Now, I've felt the Kyuubi's chakra flow into me before, but this…this was different. Like the difference between a rock and a boulder (bad comparison, but I can better explain the size than the feel). Almost at once, I felt angry, similar to how I usually feel whenever I used the Kyuubi's chakra, only it felt like it was growing. After a second, the chakra actually began to seep out of me and form around me in a fox shape. I was a bit surprised, unaware that this happened when I got a certain amount of chakra, but my attention quickly shifted to another fact.

The energy was still gushing out.

I growled at a second tail of chakra formed. I could feel the Kyuubi's presence growing in the back of my head, but I could also hear Pervy Sage speaking calmly in front of me; his voice just barely getting over the sound of my blood in my ears.

"You're doing great Naruto, just hang on." Easy for him to say; he wasn't the one with an enraged demon sealed in him trying to through him.

Now I've been angry before, I've been pissed off before, but this was more rage than I was usually used too. I was pretty sure that I was seeing a couple of spots in my vision, though that may have just been me feeling tense. I could almost hear the Kyuubi's voice speaking to me now.

And the energy was still coming.

I clawed at the ground in a feral manner as the third tail slowly extended. I wanted to destroy everything. I no longer knew why I felt like that, I just wanted to see its destruction. A part of me knew better, the rational part of me, and tried to reign myself in, but I was pretty much fighting a losing battle. The anger was so satisfying, my hunger for power felt loosened, while at the same time suddenly wanting more of it.

"Naruto, are you still okay?" Despite my enraged state, I managed a nod. "Do you want to continue?" I nodded again. "Alright, be careful."

More power rushed into me.

This time though, the energy wasn't the only thing to come through.

Almost like an itch in the back of my head, I could feel the Kyuubi's presence pushing through. It was so filled with rage, and so much power. I heard it whispering words I couldn't understand; not that I cared at the time. I couldn't really think all that straight due to the fact that I was seeing red, more angry than I had ever felt in my life (though that might just have been the Kyuubi's chakra I was seeing).

Then the Kyuubi decided to take over.

I don't know why I remember what happened next so vividly, but it was something that would change my life as well as haunt me.

I saw through my own eyes, feeling like I was trespassing in someone else's mind and body. I saw Pervy Sage step back, realizing that something was horribly wrong. I wanted to yell at him to run, that he was in danger. But nothing came out; I had lost all control. The Kyuubi looked around, flexing my hands almost experimentally. I felt its nervousness, its…apprehension, which confused me. What on earth could possibly make the Kyuubi _apprehensive_?

And then it did something I never thought possible, or would have believed if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes.

The Kyuubi went through a series of hand seals before slamming its - my - hands on the ground. Watching in surprise and amazement, I watched as a large group of seals spread around myself/the Kyuubi in a manner similar to the summoning technique. Although, the seals were completely off. I mean, since when is there a horseshoe-shaped kanji?

Pervy Sage seemed to think that something was wrong though, because he began going through a series if hand-seals himself. I can only guess what he was trying to do, because I never saw what he did. The Kyuubi's energy disappeared into the sees that were now surrounding me. For a brief second, I thought it was over. Then, the seals rapidly rushed from off the ground and across my skin.

In another split second, a burning sensation came across every place that had a seal on if. It was agonizing, like every part of my body was being jabbed with a hot needle. Then the energy constricted around me, in such a way that I could practically feel the air in and around me being twisted and compressed. I grabbed my throat, trying desperately to breathe.

Then, well…I exploded.

And everything went black.


	2. I Get Into a Fight Over Shoes

**GAH! This chapter was a nightmare to write. Too much descriptive writing.**

**...oh well. Enjoy!**

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Chapter 1: I Get Into a Fight Over Shoes

I was stuck in darkness.

Now, I'm not sure what I can really tell you about limbo; I'm not sure how to describe it besides it being constantly too hot and too cold at the same time. I'm sure that in normal circumstances, that would make me feel 'just right'. Then again, I've never been through much 'normal' stuff in my life.

Now that I think about it, there is another thing I can tell you about my stay in limbo. A lot of people think that limbo is like some kind of empty space that fills the void between dimensions. They're pretty much right…but also wrong. Limbo is probably empty when people aren't there, but it's the whole opposite thing.

Once you enter limbo, it's like you aren't in limbo, but you also _fill_ limbo.

All of the information I'd ever learned was there, constantly replaying over and over again. It's like my mind was bored, and had nothing better too do, and decided to torture me by replaying every moment I'd ever lived. There were even memories that I didn't realize that I knew.

In fact, the first memories that were brought up were mostly sounds. At first they were muffled; two particular voices could be heard a lot. I listened, feeling relaxed by their voices for a while before I made the connection. The voices I was hearing were my parents. As time went on, their voices became more distinct.

My mom sounded like me; impulsive, headstrong, and occassionally shouting something that sounded like when I yelled 'believe it'. My father on the other hand usually sounded focused, soldier-like I guess. Yet, at times when he was with my mother -and Pervy Sage when he was around- he sounded kind, and loving. He spoke of mein such a way that I _knew_ he wanted, and loved me.

Then, I saw my parents death. I watched a masked man take my mother, only to later see her crying face as my father left. Then, I watched with my small, barely seeing eyes as my parents fought and sealed the Kyuubi. I even got to hear the decree that the Third Hokage made; the one where my father asked me to be seen as a hero, as well as keep the Kyuubi a secret from the kids my age. I can tell you that didn't work as well as he thought it would.

I watched myself growing up, remembering things from books I didn't remember reading. I remembered my time in Konoha as a Genin; the good and the bad. I relived my moments with Haku, the promise to protect my precious people and follow my own ninja path. I felt the battles with Kiba, Neji, and Gaara; reliving the pressure of proving myself to them, and everyone else. I watched myself lose Sasuke and swear to bring him back. And then I watched the final part of my life - the Kyuubi taking over and sticking us into limbo. I watched the memories over and over again, thinking that would be pretty much all I'd ever see while I was stuck there.

I guess it never occurred to me that there could be other people stuck in limbo.

For the longest time, there was nothing. It was just me and my thoughts; not even the Kyuubi to keep me company. Then, my mind seemed to 'bump into' and object of some sorts in limbo. Curious, I reached out to it.

As I touched the 'object' in limbo, I jumped in shock as the object suddenly reached back. After a moment of confusion, I realized what had happened; there was someone else stuck in limbo, and whoever it was, was just as curious about me as I was of them. Now, I had been stuck in limbo for who knows how long; I was excited to know that someone else was out there.

However, as time went on, my thoughts turned from excitement to confusion. The other person seemed alright, not really dangerous with any intent to harm me or anything like that. But there was just something…off about their presence. There was just something familiar about them. Like a long lost friend you couldn't remember the name of or something. The only problem was that we couldn't exactly talk to one another. Limbo doesn't really carry sound. In other words, we knew that the other person was there, but talking was pretty much out of the question. That was almost a worse than having no one there.

Luckily, I'm not the sort of person to give up. With a bit of time and a bit of experimenting, I found that we could send images. Well, it was more like I could send memories. And since I had remembered more of my life, I was more able to send them to the other mind easier than they could to me.

During our 'conversations', I sent memories of the Leaf Village, my friends, trying to keep it as positive as possible. In return I was shown strange images of places that couldn't have been possible, but were. There were strange words on some of the buildings I didn't understand. The other person tried to explain a little bit, but wasn't really able to bring up any good images to help explain, so I just let it go. I was shown the faces of some people, the other person's friends I suppose. They seemed happy, although I could tell the other person felt really sad as they remembered them.

I was shown a camp, where some people known as Halflings, the children of some people called Olympians, could go to train. I wasn't sure what an Olympian was, but it kinda reminded me of the ninja academy, and I told them so, showing them an image of the academy. I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I think they might have been laughing at me. Why, I'm not sure. I never even got a chance to ask, because their presence suddenly disappeared with a cry.

And once again, I was alone; lost in my thoughts again.

I knew that if I was stuck here alone again, that I would more than likely go crazy. I had been alone for too long, and wanted out. Now.

Almost like an answer to my plea, I felt the tug at my mind.

I'm not sure what how I was pulled out, but it felt like my mind was physically yanked out of my memories. My mind, which had felt loose and free as it had wandered about, was violently reconnected with my body. And then I fell.

* * *

It was disorienting, suddenly falling after being suspended in limbo for so long. The suddenly lurch made me feel suddenly sick, until after a moment of falling, I felt myself connect with the ground beneath me. The landing wasn't too bad, just a bit painful.

I groaned softly, feeling sore all over. There was a pain shooting through my head; a revolting smell not helping in the least. While painful, wasn't as bad as some of the pains I remembered suffering through. Trust me when I say I _remember_ only too well

After groaning a bit, I tried to open my eyes. Tried being the key word. Just the small amount of light that I could see blinded me, renewing the intense pain, though now more focused into my eyes. From what I could tell, it wasn't actually that bright out. Plus, if my nose wasn't lying to me, it was probably going to rain soon. Grimacing, I pushed myself up.

I was quickly reminded that just before I had gone into limbo, I had gone through a rigorous training session with Pervy Sage. Pushing through the pain, I took a slow step forwards. Unable to see, I didn't notice the bottle until I stepped on it and was backpedaling fast. After a few steps though, my backside slammed into something; a metallic wall of some sorts. It only made my headache hurt even more, as a hollow ring resounded through the area. I silently questioned whether or not Kami hated me as I tried to take a couple deep breaths.

Keeping my back against the metal wall, I tried to open my eyes again. The pain was excruciating, but I bore it as my sight slowly came back to me. I took a look around, unsure of what whether or not I was hallucinating. It was some of the images I'd seen from limbo.

There were buildings covered in glass that reached into the sky; some probably taller than the Hokage Monument. I watched the crowds of people walking the sides of the streets, while metal beasts rolled through the middle of the streets as though they were oblivious to the people. Groaning, I noticed that the metal 'wall' I was leaning against was actually a box of some sort with a multitude of trash. I grimaced. _Well now, that explains the smell._

With a small sigh I pushed my self upright again. I was standing in some of alleyway, isolated from the crowd and beasts. On either side, the crowds and beasts filled the street, which meant that it would probably be a bit more difficult to blend in if anyone decided to question me. In the alley, a few other people sat around, not really paying much attention to me. Except for this one guy who was probably a few years older than me who was looking at me with almost a hungry expression. Creepy.

I glanced around again, trying to find something to give me some help. As I looked around, I noticed a piece of paper that was lying on the ground next to my surprisingly bare foot. I quickly picked it up, hoping to find something of value.

Looking over the paper, I quickly became frustrated. The symbols on the paper were meaningless to me. I went over a few basic training methods that I knew of that Pervy Sage had taught me about code decrypting, but nothing worked. The code was simply too difficult to decipher.

Then something strange happened. The letters began to move. Now, this had never happened to me before, so I was reasonably shocked as I dropped the paper and let out a small shout. Realizing that I had attracting some attention, I grinned nervously at them.

One of the older men sitting in the alley grinned. From where I stood, I could tell he was missing some teeth, and that those teeth were in serious need of brushing. "First time user?"

"What?" I asked, shaking my head in confusion. My ears were still ringing from the box, so I wasn't sure if I'd heard the man correctly.

The man just chuckled as though he knew something that I didn't. "Drugs man. Is this your first time?"

I tried to smile. _What the heck is that?_ After a second, I just shrugged.

"Don't worry, it'll get easier to handle as you use it more." The man said, a throaty laugh escaping his lips.

The younger man in the alley gave me such a curious look that I couldn't help but stare back. There was something strange about him, like his face was shimmering or…under an illusionary jutsu. With a small amount of surprise, I took a step backwards. Hearing a small crumpling noise, I looked down.

Noticing the paper under my foot again, I stared down at it. For a moment, nothing happened. The symbols remained as they were. Then, they began to move again. This time, I stood still, watching in amazement as the words began to reassemble themselves. Grinning in triumph, I picked up the paper again. The symbols had rearranged themselves into understandable kanji.

Reading through some of the things on it, I quickly found that the kanji were written in a left to right fashion rather than the usual up and down fashion I was used to. Adapting to the new reading fashion, I skimmed through what was written. It didn't really have much that I could use, but there was something that I realized was helpful. In the top left corner, was two words; two words that were probably the most helpful and disturbing of all the words that could possibly be written on paper.

_Manhattan Times._

I felt my gut clench. Manhattan. It was one of the cities that the other mind in limbo had shown me. They had even shown me signs on some of the buildings in the area that had the shared the city's name. I had already figured that I wasn't anywhere near any area that I knew of, but this…this was a whole new area.

Hearing a small growl from behind me, I glanced back towards the noise. The young man was standing there, growling as his face seemed to shimmer in an almost violently. Realizing that the alley was _not_ a safe place to stay, I turned towards the nearest crowd of people, and began to follow the crowd.

* * *

Now just in case anyone ever decided to follow my example, come out of limbo, and then take a walk in Manhattan; don't forget your shoes. I'm really not joking; whether it was the explosion or just being stuck in limbo, I had somehow lost my jacket and my shoes before arriving in Manhattan. My white shirt wasn't too bad, although my short time in the alley had soiled it a bit, while my pants were another matter altogether. Unlike my shirt, my pants were ripped in several parts near my knees and the bottom part was completely frayed and falling apart. To make matters worse, my pouch and kunai holster were missing as well. I groaned; this was definitely not the most the best I'd ever looked, and was far from the most comfortable way to travel. Not that I really had any choice in the matter.

As I ran away from the young man in the alley and joined the crowd, I was immediately swept away by the crowd.

It was hot. And I'm not saying it was Fire Country hot, but it was still hot nothing the less. And since I was barefoot, I had the _lovely_ sensation of my feet being scalded as I walked down the road. And yet, there I was, casually strolling with the crowd in no direction in particular, ignoring the pain as much as I could.

The only problem was that my feet didn't seem to share the same sentiment as the rest of my body. The hot, rock-like ground seemed to release the heat into my feet far too quickly for my liking. I was practically walking on hot coals, without any end in sight. Added to the fact that I was almost a hundred percent sure that I was being followed, I was not a happy ninja.

Growling in annoyance, I began to glance around. I don't really know what I was looking for, any place I could duck into to give me some time to think up a plan. After a moment of just looking around, I saw a place that a big shoe on the front. Figuring that I could get some shoes while I was hiding, I quickly ducked inside.

As I entered the store, I couldn't help but look around in amazement. The place had all sorts of things I had never seen, or even thought of before. The ground was covered in some kind of pelt flooring, rather than normal wooden floors. The entire store was filled with shoes, which I'm guessing was the only product that they sold. And then there was the lighting. No candles or anything like that, no. They had some kind of lightning jutsu above our heads, illuminating the entire store. I couldn't feel any chakra being used by anyone around me, which made me wonder where the chakra was coming from.

There was a desk to my left as I walked in. The woman behind the desk seemed nice enough, if not confused by my lack of footwear. I just tried to grin as innocently as possible as I asked where the sandals were. She pointed me in the direction of the footwear I was looking for, though she advised me to try out some of the other footwear in the building. Since I didn't really have much else to do, I told her that I'd look at them.

There was a _lot_ of footwear in the store. And not all of it was ninja sandals either. There were all kinds of footwear, sandals with toe covers, sandals without straps over the upper part of the foot or heel, and even boots. Grinning like a fool, I walked over to some of the different displayed shoes. There were a lot of them that were made of a material that I had never felt before, stuff that felt too soft to be useful in combat.

I heard the young man from the alley enter before I saw him. He looked around the shop like he was looking for someone; probably me. I tried to pretend I was just a normal customer, looking for shoes like everyone else. There were a couple of other people who noticed the young man, but they seemed to ignore him only looking at him for a moment. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eyes, noticing that as the shimmering faded out, only one eye remained.

I blinked in confusion. Okay, I'll admit, I _have_ seen some weird stuff as a ninja. There was man who had six arms and another who could manipulate his bones into weapons being some of the stranger people that I've met. So I wasn't really worried about that. What I was confused about was that no one else seemed to pay any attention to it; when for everyone else, it was clearly something that was not normal.

Then I remembered the illusion the guy had put over his face, and put two and two together. "Damn, not good." I whispered to myself as I moved away towards the back door. If this guy could create illusions, he was going to be a real problem for me, even with my knowledge of how to dispel illusions.

I heard a low throaty growl, and made the mistake of looking up. Noticing the movement, the man shoved people out of his path as he forced his way towards me. Cursing under my breath, I ran through the back door.

The back door, as it turned out, didn't lead back outside. Instead, it led to a larger room filled with lots of shelves, with even more boxes. Lots of boxes. I grimaced as one of the employees yelled that I wasn't supposed to be back there. I ignored him and moved swiftly through the aisles. I could hear him continue to yell at me as I heard the door I'd just entered slam violently against the wall.

"What is wrong with you kids?" The employee yelled, turning his attention on the one-eyed man. "You are not supposed to come back – "

He didn't get a chance to finish what he was saying as One-Eye shoved him into one of the metal shelves. I figured calling him One-Eye would probably help me remember him better. "Halfling! Why are you hiding?"

_Halfling? Is he talking to me?_ I thought as I hid behind another one of the shelves.

"Hero!" One-Eye yelled, his thunderous voice still pretty far from my own position. "Come out. I just want to speak with you!"

"Sure you do." I muttered, not really able to shut my stupid mouth.

There was a slamming noise behind me. I looked over my shoulder, trying to see what was going on, when I realized what One-Eye was doing. He was shoving over the shelves in an attempt to flush me out. And to my horrific luck, it was working.

"Come out hero! Your parent has abandoned you to my hands!" he shouted, shoving over another couple of shelves.

I ducked down. What did he think he knew about my parents? I'd seen them both in my memories, and I distinctly remember watching their deaths…repeatedly. So why was One-Eye talking about them like at least one was alive?

"Chronos knows your anguish; he can help you survive the coming clash of powers. Come out, and let me take you too him. We can work together, and conquer your foolish parents, who abandoned you!"

That was the last straw for me. My parents may have been dead, and I may have already known that they both loved and cared about me. But when anyone thinks they can just talk about my parents like they knew them, and like they had just abandoned me for no reason, I couldn't help myself.

With a loud roar, I rushed out from behind the shelf. I could see One-Eye's grin as he saw me come out change in less than a second as I rushed him. Now, One-Eye was a big man, but I had lots strength training and surprise on my side. I slammed into him going as fast as I could considering the short distance, and knocked him over.

Apparently he hadn't expected this, because he didn't fight back for a moment. Unfortunately for him, that gave me the opportune time to pull myself up and punch him across the face. I continued hitting him, muttering curses about him and insulting his intelligence. One-Eye apparently didn't like that, as he swatted me off him, slamming me into a large pile of boxes.

"Why do you fight me hero? Do you not understand what Chronos is offering you? He offers you a chance to get back at your Olympian parent, and prove your worth!" One-Eye said as he picked himself up.

I shook my head. What did One-Eye just say? Olympian? I remember hearing that word from somewhere, but my head was ringing for me to think clearly. Growling, I pushed myself back up, feeling surprisingly stronger than when I had gotten knocked down. I suppose the blood pumping through my veins was finally getting the adrenaline to my brain.

"Don't insult me, or my family!" I yelled, rushing him yet again. This time though, he was ready. Instead of taking the hit, he took a swing with his left arm, grazing me and sending me into another set of shelves. I growled, picking myself up once again.

"You're strong Halfling, I'll give you that." Okay, I was _definitely_ certain I'd heard that word before. "That's why we need you. That's why we need your strength, your skills, to help us win this war."

"I don't know what you're talking about." I said, spitting out a small amount of blood that had gathered in my mouth.

One-Eye gave me a surprised, but also slightly pleased look. "You mean you don't know? You don't know that there are others out there like you? That there are others with your…gifts? Others out there, who are being plagued by monsters like me, none the wiser to the truth. And then there are the ones who are blinded by their foolish brethren who tell them that they will be safe at a despicable place such as Camp Half Blood!"

I blinked. This guy was a monster? If he was a monster, I was very curious as to what other people were called 'monsters'. "So you're a monster?"

One-Eye grinned. "Yeah, a Cyclops, if you want to get into the names of things."

I nodded. "Okay, I get that. But I'm not going with you."

One-Eye growled. "Why? Do you not understand what I'm telling you?"

"No I get it. You're telling people that their lives could be better, by telling them to join the people who hunted them down." I said as I felt my glare hardening as I stared him down.

One-Eye laughed. It was not a pleasant laugh. "Then you will die!"

One-Eye rushed forward. Scowling, I leapt over him, watching as he fell over the shelves that he had previously knocked me into. As I landed, I shoved myself back towards him, leaping with my elbow leading. As One-Eye tried to push himself up; I slammed into him, knocking him back into the shelves. Moving as fast as I could, I wrapped my arm around his neck, squeezing for all I was worth.

One-Eye apparently realize what I was doing, because he tried to stand up. However, I just squeezed harder, stopping him from being able to move so freely. He tried to swat me off of his back, but I just pressed myself closer to his back. I even felt him try and roll over; I shoved my foot against the ground to stabilize myself and stop him from moving at the same time. Finally, after a couple more seconds, he was finally out.

I stood up slowly, uncertain of whether or not he would stay down. I've had plenty of bad experience with people not staying down the first time me or anyone else knocked them out. I knew that if I didn't make sure he was down, he would get back up, stronger than before. Luckily, it didn't look like One-Eye was getting up anytime soon.

I looked down at One-Eye, thinking over some of the things he had said. He'd definitely called me a Halfling, said something about me having an Olympian parent, and talked about a place called Camp Half Blood. All things that I had already heard of.

From limbo.

Growling in frustration, I took a deep breath. I scrunched up my face, trying to remember where what I'd learned about Camp Half Blood. After a couple of moments, a specific memory came to mind; one that gave me directions on where to find the camp.

A grin crossed my face as I turned around. I almost lost it as I nearly tripped over a box that had slid right behind my feet. Glaring down, I just about kicked the box away when I noticed something. They were some kind of heavy duty boots. Bending over, I pulled them out.

_Not bad._ I thought. They looked like they could take some heavy use, and dish out some painful hits should I need them too. I pulled them on, my glare returning to a grin which widened as I wiggled my toes in the base of the shoe. Just my size. As I tied the string that was laced through, which helped tighten the boots on my feet, I couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe, my luck was getting better. Maybe Kami had decided to give me a break.

As I walked out of the store, and back into the rain, I swore I hear the faint sound of a girlish laughter.

* * *

**AN: Just out of curiousity, how many people think they know what time in the books this is starting at? who thinks they know who Naruto was 'talking too'? and who thinks they know what is going on?**

**Only a few people may get the first two, the only the third will take much time for you all to understand. Why? Because I'm the master of cliffhangers, that's why.**

**Edit: I changed a few things in the beginning to try and better explain the story. I hope people can better understand the limbo scene now.**


	3. I Become The King's Hero

**Hey all! Here's the next chapter of Naruto: A Warriors Crisis. Thank you everyone who reviewed, and a special thanks to 8675309, who gave me some constructive critisizm that I've tried to work on.**

**Now, on with the story!**

* * *

Chapter 2: I Become The King's Hero

* * *

I soon found that following the directions I was given was far harder than I ever imagined. I had the directions, the landmarks, even the name of the area – Delphi Strawberry Service - that sold as a cover, you guessed it, strawberries. Unfortunately, that didn't give me any real clue as to where I was to go from Manhattan to get to the Camp Half Blood.

As I looked for any of the other landmarks I could possibly use, my stomach growled out in pain. Blushing despite myself, I realized that I had not had anything to eat since I'd gotten to Manhattan. Plus, since I'd fought One-Eye, I was even more exhausted and hungry than I would usually be. Silently wishing for food, I looked around, desperate for anywhere I could get food, and fast.

Whining quietly, my eyes scanned the surrounding area. I knew that there was food somewhere; the main problem was that I didn't know what sold what. There was the possibility of just checking them all out, but that would be time consuming, and with the metal beasts still dominating the roads, I couldn't cross over to check out most of the shops on the other side.

Then I noticed the line of people walking in front of the metal beasts. And the beasts were _waiting_ for them to cross. Curious, I followed the way that the crowed moved towards the crossroad. There were different lights hanging over the crossroads, flashing different lights in some kind of pattern. I attempted to reach out with chakra to see who was controlling the lights. But, like the shoe store, I couldn't feel anyone controlling the lights. Impossible, and yet I was watching them work all the same.

"It's really amazing, traffic at this hour."

I jumped as I whipped around to face the speaker. I was surrounded by so much noise that it was difficult to really know when one _single_ person was attempting to follow you. This had been frustrating me for a bit before, but I had tried to ignore it because I was hungry; not the best thing to do. But can you really blame me? I was hungry!

Facing the speaker, I gave him a quick once over. He was a middle-aged man with an athletic figure-slim and fit-with salt-and-pepper hair. He had black curly hair, with pointed sort of ears, and a sly grin. He was wearing a strange shirt with words on it that took a moment to sort themselves out. "New York City Marathon?" I asked, gently scratching my ear.

The man grinned. "Yep, I run at least one a year."

"Uh, okay?" I said, unsure of what to think of the man. He seemed nice enough, but then again I've known people as nice as him who turned out worse than they had seemed.

"You headed anywhere in particular?" he asked. I opened my mouth to speak, when I was interrupted by my stomach deciding to speak for me with a loud growl. I looked away slightly while the man just gave me a curious raised eyebrow. "I'm going to go with a wild guess that you're looking for somewhere to eat, no?"

I nodded, silently cursing my stomach. For a seasoned warrior, the sound of a growling stomach was the equivalent of telling everyone you weren't at your strongest. And in a strange and unfamiliar town like this, I was in need of keeping my guard and energy up.

The man chuckled, reminding me that he was still there. "Well, I do happen to know that there is a couple of fast food places right across the street. If you want, I can take you there."

I almost refused, not really liking the fact that some random person was helping me, probably with some ulterior motive. However, as I opened my mouth to speak, a horrifying though came to me. Gama-chan, my frog shaped wallet, was still lying in the hotel with Pervy Sage. Which meant that even if I could get to it right now, I was more than likely broke - without really spending anything either. Just my luck.

"Uh, thanks." I said, glancing at the man again.

He has a kind smile, that helped relax me a little, if only a little. "Great! Follow me, it's really not that far."

He walked out into the middle of the road, me following on his heels. As we crossed the road, I was surprised as I noticed that as we had been talking, the beasts had come to a standstill, making it possible for us to cross. Halfway across, I couldn't help but take a closer look at them. Glancing at the nearest beast, I blinked in confusion. There were people sitting _inside_ of the beasts. Shaking my head in confusion, I hurried after the man who'd already made it across the street.

Falling into step with the man, I took another look around. There wasn't much difference in what was around us, although -now this might have just been my imagination- the crowd seemed smaller, and easier to move through.

"So, where're you from?" the man asked.

My mind shut down for a moment, unsure of what I was supposed to say without saying too much. Suddenly, words from Pervy Sage's training came to mind, perfect for this situation. _When lying on the run, it's sometimes best to tell a partial truth as you already have half of the information you need, and the other person is probably looking for._

"I'm looking for...a friend. I lost 'em a while ago, and since we were headed in the same direction, I figured I'd meet with them there." I said, silently congratulating myself on my quick thinking. I scratched the back of my head nervously, wondering if he'd buy it.

"Ah, so you're a traveler? That's cool; we get a lot of people like that here." the man said, nodding as though he'd just understood something. He was about to say something else when his pocket suddenly began to shake. He gave me a sheepish look as he pulled out a small box. "Will you excuse me a moment? I have to take this."

I nodded. _What the heck is that?_ I thought as I watched him fiddle with the box for a moment. He muttered something into the box, acting like he was actually having a conversation with it. After a moment, he sighed and put the box back into his pocket. "I'm sorry, but I must go now."

"No that's fine, go right ahead." I said, relieved to hear that he was leaving. He was just a little strange for my tastes.

"Well, before I go, I should probably give you this." as he spoke, he pulled out a backpack from behind himself.

_Funny, I don't remember him having that before._ I thought as I hesitantly took the bag from him. It looked normal I suppose; a single strap that went over my left shoulder, a single pouch full of some stuff...pretty basic. But the thing that made all my suspicions leave in seconds was when I noticed the bags color. It was a nice bright orange.

I decided to reassess my opinion of him. This guy was _awesome_. Grinning like a fool at the surprising gift, my training decided to remind me of reality. _There are very few people who will offer you gifts for free._ "Why?"

The man shrugged. "I don't need something like that; got enough to carry as it is. Besides, I'm certain you'll have more need of it than I will."

I looked over his face, trying to look for something, anything out of place with his words. He had a kind, yet knowing smile. I've only seen smiles like that from the Old Man before he'd died. Unable to sense anything out of place, and figuring I would need the bag, I shouldered the pack, I adjusted it to get it to feel right before speaking again. "Uh, thanks."

"No problem. There's some useful stuff in there, but if you ever run into a situation where you need to get out of trouble, just tell the bag to open in your language. Uh, and just to be safe, do be sure to tell it to close when you're done. Everything should stay with you that way."

I blinked. "What?"

"Oh, and I almost forgot." he reached into his pocket and pulled out something that reminded me a little of Gama-chan only in folded leather. "Bad habits are hard to break. Sorry for taking this. I'll see you later Naruto."

I took the object from him, peeking inside. In the folded leather was a bunch of green paper, a piece of paper with the words 'bus pass' on it, and a piece of plastic. Curious, I took out the piece of plastic, turning it over in my hands. After turning it for a bit, I noticed the difference in the two sides; one was blank while the other had some writing in it. Looking over the writing side, I felt my blood freeze over. It had a picture of myself with some words saying I was from 'Leaf Academy.' I looked up, wanting to question the man. However, he was gone; probably melded into the crowd. I looked at the spot where he'd just stood, a shiver running up my spine.

He'd called me Naruto, even though I hadn't told him my name.

* * *

Trying to shake off the uneasy feeling the man had left with me, I walked into the nearest restaurant, a place called Burger King. Glancing around, I began counting. Despite no longer being with Pervy Sage, I figured that I would need to keep practicing what he'd taught me. It had definitely was a simple enough thing to practice; no chakra necessary.

There were at least five employees that I could see, info I didn't see the point in knowing. There were six men, two with families, a young teen sitting in a corner with a pair of strange looking crutches nearby wearing a weird hat, and three others in similar brown jackets standing around somewhat suspiciously. Three kids, two different aged girls and one boy, were trying to run from their parents grasp. From what I could tell, both girls were with one couple while the boy was with the other. There was one single woman, a young woman who was talking to one of the employees, probably placing an order. It seemed safe enough I suppose. However, I felt something in my gut telling me to stay on guard. Something wasn't right here.

I walked forward nervously, noticing a board behind on of the employees head; the menu I suppose. I looked at what they had, feeling frustrated by the selection. I've never hears of a 'cheeseburger' before, but it didn't sound like the best thing to eat right now. And besides that, I was on a mission to find my glorious ramen...the one thing they didn't have on the menu.

I just about cried. How could any food place not have ramen? It was the greatest food ever created! To not have it was blasphemy in my opinion. I almost walked out then and there, certain that there was ramen out there. However, both my stomach and a new foe fought me.

I glanced at one of the jacketed men. "Excuse me, but where's the bathroom?"

The man gave me a dirty look, pointing down the side next to where the employees were still taking the woman's order. I nodded, quickly thanking him as I rushed towards the bathroom. There was no way I was this unlucky to be hurting this much.

Sighing in relief, I walked towards the sink to wash my hands. As I dipped my hands into the water, I noticed my reflection in the mirror and paused. I still looked like my normal self I suppose; naturally spiky blonde hair, three whisker marks on either cheeks, and a lean build. However, as I looked myself over I couldn't help but think I looked...different. My hair was a little longer, less spiky I suppose, but it was also more affected by gravity. Several strands hung in front of my face, no headband to keep it out of my eyes. I sighed, feeling a sudden weight on my shoulders. I looked older.

Drying off my hands, I adjusted my bag as I grabbed the handle of the door. Looking at the bag, a curious thought occurred to me. _What's in the bag?_

Walking back over to the mirror, I swung the bag off my shoulder and onto the counter. With a few deft movements, I zipped the pack open. Looking inside, I couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped me.

Inside the bag were several sets if clothes. Nothing fancy I suppose, but definitely better than what I was wearing. And as I looked through the different shirts, I just about cried. There were so many orange shirts.

I love Kami right now.

Sifting through the clothes, I pulled out an orange button-down shirt and a pair of dark brown khakis. Grinning from ear to ear, I walked into the nearest stall. After a few moments, I stepped out in my new clothes, feeling better than ever. Putting the folded leather into my pocket, I put my old shirt and pants into the bag. In doing so, my hand brushed up against something else in the bag. Somewhat frustrated by how confused all of this was making me, I pulled out the offending object.

It was a jar, similar to the jar of healing ointment that Hinata had given me during the Chunnin Exams. Looking it over, I noticed a label. Squinting my eyes to try and better see the words, I slowly read, "H-Hermes Athletic Muscle Relief. What the heck?"

Opening the jar, I scooped a small amount of the ointment out. Giving it a small sniff, I smiled as the foreign aroma hit my nose. It actually smelt pretty good. Touching it to my forearm, I immediately felt the relief. I'd been trying so hard to ignore the pain, the relief soothed and relaxed me. Whoever this Hermes guy was, he sure knew his stuff. I rubbed as much as I could on everywhere that hurt; almost all of it all over my body. There was a small spray-on bottle with it that read 'apply to clothing for all day relief. With a shrug I sprayed a layer of it onto my clothes.

Smiling at the relief, I shouldered the bag. My stomach growled, reminding me what I'd come here to get. Chuckling to myself I headed out the door.

Today was looking good.

* * *

I'd spoke too soon.

As I walked out of the restroom, I could see that the atmosphere had changed. Most of he people I could see were huddled into a corner, a frightened look on their faces. The employees were more than likely hiding under the counter. The three men in the leather jackets were standing around, strange objects in their hands. By the way the people were staring at them in fear made me a bit curious.

But I had bigger issues. My life has been to protect people, and I wasn't just going to stand around and let these men terrify these innocent people. Of course, with my awesome ninja training, I would be able to take them out without them ever noticing. Plus, I had the element of -

"Oi! Where'd you come from?"

- surprise.

"That's the guy who went to the bathroom. He's not wearing he same clothes, but it's definitely him. He's got those weird marks on his face like I told ya." the man who'd directed me to the bathroom said as he turned his weapon on me.

_Weird? My birthmarks are completely normal._ I thought, feeling pretty sure that if I voiced the thought it wouldn't go over well. Instead, I said, "What's going on?"

The first guy -the one who first noticed me- growled. "Just shut up and go sit with the others."

I almost laughed. If this guy was trying to intimidate me, he wasn't doing a very good job. The weapons in their right hands was the only thing that was truly intimidating about them. There was plenty of killing intent, but it was so wildly unfocused that I wasn't fazed. It I hadn't faced people like Zabuza and Gaara, I might have been slightly intimidated. But since I had, it felt pathetic.

I walked forward, putting myself in the middle of the three men. I still hadn't figured out what my plan was, especially since I didn't have a weapon, and was out numbered. That is to say, I was trying to think of a plan that didn't involve me revealing my abilities. With my Shadow Clone Jutsu, I could match their numbers and even exceed them. But since I still didn't know enough about how things worked here, I wasn't willing to reveal myself as a ninja.

"Did you not hear me? I said get in the corner!" the man yelled again, putting the barrel against the back of my head.

I let my eyes move to the other two thugs. There was one on my left and one on my right, just spaced enough to notice that one was covering the entrance while the other was guarding the hostages. Both of them had their attention on me, their weapons pointed down and away from me. I frowned. They must have had a lot of skill if they were willing to point their weapons away from me.

Or they had no idea what they were dealing with.

"Get in the corner!"

As I felt him push the weapon more against my head, I decided to change the situation. Spinning around, I used the outside of my left arm to knock the man's arm away and upward; effectively disarming him. Not waiting a second, my right arm followed my left, the outside of my palm making contact with the man's throat. He went down coughing and sputtering.

The second man -the one covering the entrance- was next. He tried to bring his weapon level with me, but only got halfway as my foot connected with his face, knocking him onto his back in a way that looked rather painful. His weapon flew out of his hand; the longer barrel portion sliding into my hand. Continuing my turn, I brought the handle of the second man's weapon down between the third man's eyes. He apparently wasn't keeping up with everyone else, because he had a second to look at the weapon cross-eyed before it collided with his skull. With that, all three men were incapacitated.

All this happened in five seconds.

Dropping their weapon, I looked at their crumpled forms. I'd hit pretty much all of them in the face, and had knocked two of them out. The first man that I'd hit was no threat yet, as he was still trying to catch his breath. He seemed to be looking for something, his weapon I guess. I didn't see it either, and glanced around for it.

"Don't move!" a voice yelled. I glanced towards the voice, wondering if I'd missed on of the assailants. However, it turned out to be alright, as it was the other teen who had picked up the first man's weapon and was pointing it at the man. I noticed his shaking hands and realized that he wasn't a warrior. But he was still acting to protect everyone. I could definitely respect that.

My stomach let out another rumble, turning a few heads. I scratched the back of my head nervously. "Uh, I know this is a bad time, but could I possibly have some food?"

* * *

As it turns out, beating up people does in fact has a few rewards. I ordered a dozen of those 'cheeseburgers' since it would be the best I could get under the circumstances. As I realized realizing that the green paper in the folded leather was money, I began to rummage through my pockets to he my money out to pay. Before I could get it out though, the boy's fathers stepped forward and paid for it. When I asked why, they told me that I helped to keep their family safe.

I sat down at one of the closest tables and took out one of the cheeseburgers. I quickly unwrapped and shoved the thing into my moth. I'm not sure if it was from hunger, or just trying to get the first bit over with. I was immediately grateful though, as the taste hit my tongue. It wasn't ramen, but it wasn't half bad either. Within a moment I had gone through close to half the burgers.

As I was about to dig into my sixth, I felt a small tug on my shirt. I glanced down, seeing the little girls looking up at me with big smiles on their faces. "Thank you mister hero!" they said as they handed me a piece of paper.

Confused, but happy to see that they were happy, I smiled. Opening the paper, I saw their attempt at drawing me standing on the three bad guys with an arrow explaining who was who. At the top were a few words that were obviously thanks; I couldn't tell because the words stayed as they were. "Is that me?" I asked, acting confused. "Nah, can't be. I don't look that cool."

"No way, you were even cooler!" the young boy suddenly popped up and said. He had a grin from ear to ear, and eyes as wide as...well, the cheeseburgers.

I scratched the back of my head nervously. "Thanks. I was just doing what anyone else would though."

"Yeah, but you were all, pow, bang, slam!" the boy said, trying to mimic what I'd done. The girls giggled, the younger of them trying to follow along. The boy looked back at me. "I mean, they were going to shoot you! Weren't you scared?"

_Shoot me? Is that what those weapons do?_ I thought, shaking my head. "I didn't have time to be scared. People could have been hurt if I didn't do something."

The boys eyes widened, and his mouth dropped. I thought I might've said something wrong. "So cool." Or made myself into a role model all over again.

"John! Come on, we've got to go!" the boys mother called as she and his father got their stuff together.

"Aw, but mom!"

"No buts, now let's go."

The boy turned to me. "Bye mister hero!"

"Uh, bye John." I said, watching the boy run off. I felt a small pain in my heart as I watched them. Living in my memories gave me enough images to picture what I would have looked like if it were me running to my parents. It hurt, even though I was glad to see them.

A shadow suddenly loomed over me. I glanced up to see the teen standing over me. He looked a bit uneasy as he spoke. "Hi."

"Uh, hi."

He motioned towards the seat across from me. "Do you mind if I sit here?"

"Sure."

He sat down, fiddling with his fingers nervously. "Uh, hi."

"You already said that." I chuckled.

"Oh, right." the teen said. He scratched his cheek, nervousness practically oozing off of him. "So uh, where are you headed?"

Maybe I don't know much on being socially acceptable, but I'm pretty sure people start with introductions. Shrugging, I just decided to answer his question. "I'm headed to Delphi's Strawberry Service. Heard there were good strawberries there. By the way, the name's Naruto."

"Billy." he said, looking a bit better. Then, he suddenly stiffened, looking...excited. "Uh, did you say Delphi's Strawberry Service?"

_Okay, weird reaction._ I thought. "Yeah, why?"

"N-no reason!" he said, almost falling off his seat. "I just so happen to have gotten some work there this summer."

"Cool. You wouldn't happen to know how to get there from here would you? I asked, feeling excited myself. His energy was surprisingly infections as I found myself grabbing the rest of my burgers and heading towards the entrance, Billy right besides me.

"It's pretty easy. In fact, if you have some money, we can be there in a half hour." Billy said, using his crutches to propel him forward in a strange way. I had thought one or both of his legs were broken, but he seemed fine to me.

"Uh, okay."

I stopped at the edge of the side road, watching Billy wave down a yellow metal beast. There was no way all this was happening. I need shoes; monster shows up and I get shoes. My clothes need replacement; a guy gives me a bag with clothes. I need food; I get treated to lunch after beating up some thugs. And now I was getting a ride to the place I was trying till go to, and had a guide to show me where to go.

I heard a small, girlish laugh behind me. I glanced behind myself, seeing nothing there. And yet, I knew someone was watching me.

There was laughter again, as Billy waved me over to begin our trek to Camp Half-Blood.

**

* * *

**

AN: And there you have it. A strange gift, a fight scene, and an introduction to Naruto and fast food.

**For those who take the time to check out the AN's, please take a look at 8675309's crossovers; Halfblood Ninja and Emotionless. They are really good, and deserve some attention.**

**Please review! It always good to hear back on things I can do better.**


	4. I Join the Running of the Bulls

**And yet another chapter! Enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 3: I Join the Running of the Bulls

The ride was rather uneventful. When the man in front asked where we wanted to go, Billy just told him. The man tried to refuse, but when I handed him some of the bills from my pouch, (ones with a balding man pictured on them) he stopped talking and drove. I didn't enjoy the ride. We were moving fast enough for sure, but we had so many near run-in's with other beasts that I was certain we'd crash. But somehow, he wove through them without too much trouble.

As we got out of the city I realized that it would have been easy to get there. In fact, I probably could have made it without Billy's help if I'd figured out I could hitch a ride. Not that I didn't want to travel with Billy, he was definitely a nice enough to be around. He just seemed to be too excited for going to work, kind of like how Lee might react to training.

I munched on my last burger as we rolled to a stop, and I was surprised I could still eat anything considering how nauseous I felt. "Alright boys, this is as far as I can take you. Any further is private property." The driver said as he stuck his head a little ways out of the window. "You sure your friend was coming here?"

I nodded. There was no doubt in my mind that this was where I needed to be to get some answers. Smiling to the man, I gave him a little wave. "Yep, this is it. Thanks for the ride!"

"Alright, I'll see you then."

Glancing towards the camp, I noticed that Billy suddenly seemed far more nervous than he had a moment before. He was muttering something under his breath in a language that I didn't understand. I only caught a part of it that I could understand.

"Grover's luck? What's that?"

Billy seemed to tense up at that. Glancing up he tried to chuckle lightheartedly, though it sounded more like he was trying not to choke. "Oh nothing, just a joke me and a couple of friends share. A friend of ours made a funny mistake when he...tried to apply here."

I shrugged, and began walking towards the hill. Billy walked up next to me, making a claw-like gesture over his heart with his hand and thrust outwards. For some reason, this did not help to comfort me. If anything, it made me think that something bad was definitely going to happen if he felt the need to make a warding gesture like that.

Speeding up a little more, I tried to ease both of our worries. "So, what do you think you'll be working on here?"

Billy glanced up, a look of confusion on his face. "What?"

"What do you think you're going to be working on up here?" I repeated, noticing the look on his face. His eyes were pointed towards the ground going back and forth, like he was looking for the answers in the grass. I knew that look; it was the look of someone about to lie. I'd seen it so many times I could practically feel his nervousness.

"Erm, well, I suppose I'll be helping with...deliveries for the most part." he replied, trying to use his crutches to propel himself a little faster.

I kept up with him easily, though I felt slightly winded. "I see. And what sort of stuff are you going to deliver?"

Billy looked around, trying to think of something to say. In my head, I applauded myself. I'd effectively broken down his lie, even when he had an obvious answer he could go with. Something so obvious, _I_ picked up on it.

"Well, I'm not sure. I mean, there's a lot of stuff to do there."

I grinned. "So you won't be one of the people who will he delivering strawberries? That's too bad."

Realizing his mistake, he sputtered a little as he tried to fix his mistake. "Well, I just got work there, so I wasn't aware - "

"Funny name this place has, don't you think?"

Billy blinked as he turned to me. "What?"

I shrugged. "I just don't get why they named it Delphi's _Strawberry_ Service."

"Oh well, you see Delphi is referring to the Oracle, like the Oracle of Delphi from Greek mythology. The strawberry part is..." Billy said, slowing down as his mind caught up with his mouth. He then began to do a rather impressive imitation of a fish.

A grin crossed my face. I had never realized that teasing people was so much fun. I kind of understood why Kakashi joked about why he was late; we had a funny reaction every time. I suddenly found my missing my tardy teacher.

Scratching my cheek, a thought crossed my mind; what the heck was an Oracle, and where was Delphi?

I also felt a little uneasy as I saw his expression. As I watched him recover, I realized that my face was generally made into a similar face; usually after I'd said something stupid, and was getting hit by Sakura. I grimaced at the thought of her. There are a few redeeming qualities about her, but man does she have a temper. I've been on the receiving end of her fist on more than one occasion to be able to verify that.

Turning towards Billy, I was about to tell him it was alright, and that I forgot important stuff all the time when I smelled it. The smell of smoke.

Apparently Billy smelt it too, because his head whipped around. "Oh no!" he cried out as he looked upon the scene. My eyes took in the burning hillside, with what appeared to be a large battle consuming it.

As I watched, I saw the two bulls running across the hill. I bumped Billy's shoulder. "What are those things?"

"Colchis bulls. Creations of Hephaestus. But, this shouldn't be possible; they aren't supposed to be able to get past the tree!"

I growled at the lack of information that really gave me. Seriously, who the heck was Hephaestus, and why would he be attacking the camp? Another good question would be how in the world Billy knew this. I didn't have time to ask those questions as I noticed the armored warriors attempting to set up a defense.

"Hold this!" I yelled as I swung my backpack over my shoulder and into Billy's chest. He sputtered indignantly that he wasn't some baggage-boy, but I barely heard him. I was already on the move, covering the distance between where I'd been standing and the tree line.

As I ran, I couldn't help but notice how slow I was moving. Normally a distance like this would have been covered in such a short time that I could blindside my opponent without them realizing I was coming. As it was, I was going at maybe two-thirds of my normal speed; fast enough to get there in time, but also slow enough to throw off my timing just a bit.

The warriors were running about, attempting to keep the bulls at bay. Unlike myself they were armed with spears, a good weapon for keeping distance from the bulls. I realized why this was probably a smart idea when the first bull's mouth opened with a creaked and a jet of flame shot forth. Two of the warriors were unable to completely get out of the way, the hair on their funny headpieces catching fire.

Growling, I leapt upon the nearest bull. While I was actually aiming to jump more over it, I slammed into it, hanging onto its back for dear life. I could feel the heat of the bull beneath me, but was easily able to ignore it. Holding on, on the other hand, was not as easy.

The bull's red eyes glanced at me momentarily, the only indication of what it was about to do. A second later, it threw itself about, bucking and running in circles as it attempted to dislodge me. I slammed my hand into its back, denting it slightly as well as giving myself a handhold to use to hold on. Then again, it didn't really help me as I was thrown from the bull's back.

Rolling to my feet, I growled at the bull. The bull turned to me, giving me what I supposed was a glare; I couldn't really tell since it's red eyes seemed to be glaring nonstop. It bellowed, a jet of flame shooting out and enveloping me. I closed my eyes, feeling the flames wrap around me. Gritting my teeth, I let upwards. Once again, I overestimated my strength and wound up plowing through the flames and rolling next to the bull. Not one to complain during an intense battle, I interlocked my fingers and swung at the bulls face.

"Look out! Behind you!"

I hesitated, my swing going wide as I turned to look behind myself. Bering down on me was the second bull, silver horns shimmering in the light. Cursing softly, I spread my feet a bit, preparing for impact. I quickly realized this was a stupid idea, but was unable to do much else as the bull was mere feet away, the other bull having run a short ways away to position itself better.

Taking a deep breath, I slammed my hand into the top of the bull's horns. This forced the bull face first into the ground, and unfortunately, its body decided to follow. I winced as the bull slammed into me, nearly breaking a few bones as it rolled over me. The wind knocked out of me, I struggled for breath.

My silent victory of being alive was short-lived as the pounding hooves of the other bull quickly approached. _Well, I suppose this is it. Damn it, I can't believe that I lost to a freaking bull!_

However, these thoughts were forced from my mind as something grabbed my legs and gave a sharp pull. I looked upwards, seeing the bulls hooves just barely missing my face as it plowed on by. _That was too close for comfort._

I sat up, looking at my savior. He was younger than I was, maybe thirteen or fourteen at the most. In one hand was a strangely crafted sword, the likes of which I'd never imagined. Unlike the other warriors, he wasn't wearing any armor, just some funny looking clothes that were obviously not all that useful considering he situation.

I gave him one of my patented fox-like grins. "What took you so long?"

Apparently, that was a strange thing to say because he just gave me a confused look. I almost laughed at his expression, but seeing the first bull that I'd nearly hit completing its wide arc to charge at us again killed the humor of our situation.

I grabbed the front of his shirt, digging my feet into his stomach as I rolled backwards. Pushing upwards with my legs, I launched him a ways away while also rolling to my feet. Glaring down the bull, I felt a sense of apprehension. There was no way I'd get out of this one without a scratch.

"Tyson, help them!" a girl suddenly yelled from behind me.

"Can't-get-through!" a boy's voice, sounding as though they were struggling with something.

_Huh?_ I thought, unable to glance away as the bull was closing in on me. What was holding the warriors back? They had more than enough strength to help last I'd seen of them.

The girl said something I didn't quite catch as there was a thundering noise around me. I had to catch myself before falling over, caught off guard by the suddenness of the noise. Then, I did fall on my butt as a large form suddenly barreled in front of me, standing between me and the bull.

"Percy needs help!"

I scrambled to my feet, ready to assist this new ally. As I stood however, I was nearly knocked back down as another jet of flame enveloped the both of us. Closing my eyes and gritting my teeth, I rolled out of the flames to get a better look. Luckily, the warriors were reassembling their defenses. There was an unarmored girl going through the ranks, giving direction. I'm not sure why, but there was something familiar about her.

Glancing back at Tyson, I blinked as he emerged unscathed by the fire. Balling his hands into fists, he smashed them into the bulls face. "BAD COW!"

I grinned as I saw the bulls face crumple under the blows. Looking up to get a better look at my savior, in felt my gut clench. This guy, he only had one eye. What did One-Eye call himself again? A Cyclops? Yeah, that sounded right. And now here was the second one I'd seen today standing over me.

And yet, I didn't feel the same urge to run from him as I had from One-Eye. He had saved me, and for me that was good enough. I chuckled as the bull attempted to rise again, twin jets of flame shooting from its ears. Tyson just slammed his fist into the bulls head again.

"Down!" he shouted, forcing the bull onto it's back in what had to be one of the most amazing displays of brute-like strength I'd ever seen. Sure, I'd put a dent into one of them, but Tyson _destroyed_ them.

I checked for the first bull, sure that it would come around again to finish the job. However, I soon realized it had been incapacitated by one of the warriors, a brutish looking girl that (despite her stringy brown hair) reminded me of Sakura. A very strong, and skilled Sakura. I shuddered at the thought, wondering just how much hurt I was going to be in if pissed her off.

I was pretty sure I'd find out soon enough, seeing as she was storming towards us. She took off her helmet as she glared in my direction. I could almost feel the anger radiating off her. "You ruined everything!"

"Sorry." I said, wincing slightly as I anticipated getting hit.

She gave me a curious glance before pointing towards the first boy that had saved me. "Not you, him!"

"Oh." I muttered. I'm not really used to _not_ being on the receiving end of an angry woman's wrath. I decided it was much safer than I'd thought.

"Nice to see you too Clarisse." the girl next to the boy muttered. I hadn't realized she was there. Then that feeling of confusion returned. _Where have I seen her before?_

"Don't ever try and 'save' me again Percy!" Clarisse yelled at the boy, Percy, air quoting save for some reason. What kind of names were these? Seriously; Hermes, Billy, Clarisse, Tyson, Percy; it's like listening to a foreign language!

"Clarisse, you have wounded campers." the girl said. I rubbed my head, feeling a pain rising in my head. _I know my memory's bad, but this is ridiculous! I haven't even met her before!_

Clarisse looked like that made her lose steam, still giving him a glare as she stormed off. I watched her leave, raising an eyebrow at her actions. She was definitely a leader of some sort, but her anger at Percy's interference seemed a bit misplaced. Wouldn't another set of people be helpful? Especially against fire-breathing bulls?

"You're alive. Both of you."

"I'm sorry. Came to help. Disobeyed you." Tyson muttered.

I turned back towards Percy, noticing his surprised expression. I shrugged. "It was just a little fire."

The girl glanced towards me, shaking her head. "That wasn't normal fire. Any normal person would have been incinerated by the flames the moment they came into contact with them."

I shrugged again. "I'm not really normal."

She kept shaking her head. "No, not even children of Hephaestus are that fire resistant. You have to wear Medea's Sunscreen SPF 50,000 if you don't want to get burn to a crisp!"

"Huh, the only stuff I've put on was some muscle stuff made by someone named Hermes." I said, scratching my head as Percy and the girl shared a look. _Is it really that surprising that I came out of that unscathed?_

"Muscle stuff?" the girl asked, suddenly looking thoughtful. "Do you still have it?"

"Uh yeah. Let me just get it out of my..." I reached for my shoulder, suddenly missing the familiar weight of my backpack. Glancing around, I noticed Billy running over to us, my backpack strapped to his shoulder. I waved him down. "Billy! I need to see my backpack!"

Billy grinned as he approached us. "Aw, man that was amazing! You just rushed down here with no thought, no plan, and you came out completely fine! I should've known that I was right to bring you here. Your so strong you-"

"Billy, bag." I said, trying not to soak in all the praise he was giving me.

"What? Oh right!" Billy took my bag from his shoulder, his grin never leaving his face. I took the bag and handed it to the girl.

She unzipped it and began rummaging through my stuff. I suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable about her looking through my stuff, and made to take the bag from her, however as I did so, she pulled out the ointment jar.

Turning it over, her eyes darted about it. After a moment, she let out a frustrated sigh. "Curse my dyslexia. I can't tell what the ingredients are."

Billy took it from her, looking over the side that the girl had been attempting to read a moment before. "That can't be right." he muttered, looking at the front side again before turning it over again. "Half of the ingredients in this are in Medea's Sunscreen 50,000."

The girl nodded, a look of relief on her face. "Okay, that makes sense."

"But what about Tyson? There's no way he was able to put any of that on before the fight. How did he survive the flames?" Percy asked, glancing towards the larger boy. As he stared at his face, a look of realization crossing his face. "Tyson, you're a..."

"A Cyclops." the girl said. "And a baby by the looks of him. That's why he had a hard time getting past the boundary, unlike the bulls."

"Time out." I said, getting everyone's attention. "What boundary?"

"The boundary that was established by Thalia's tree." the girl said, shaking her head. "I can't really explain it to you right now, but - "

I wasn't really listening to her any more. My eyes had immediately become drawn to the particular tree that she was talking about after she'd said that name. Thalia. Rubbing my forehead to alleviate some of the pain in my head, I found my eyes following along the imaginary boundary line. I remembered the outside portion of Camp Half-Blood, but nothing about the inside.

Gazing at the pine tree, I noticed that the needles on the tree were a yellow, sickly color. Around the base of the tree were small piles of dead and fallen needles. A short way up the tree, I noticed that there was green ooze coming from the tree.

"Why is the tree so important?" I asked, glancing back towards the girl. She bit her lip, like some bad memory had surfaced that she didn't want to talk about. "Thalia was a daughter of Zeus who was turned into a tree by her father to keep her from dying. Her spirit has kept monsters from invading the camp since then. I was there when it happened."

"Uh, who's Zeus?" I asked. All of them gave me a shocked look. Overhead, I swore I heard the crack of thunder. But that wasn't possible; there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

"Who's Zeus? Who's - don't you know anything about the Greek gods?" Billy asked, his jaw practically on the ground.

"Uh, no?" I said, glancing between them. "Why?"

The girl glanced away. "Because the only way you could've found this place and entered, weakened boundary or not, would be that you're a half-blood like us."

"Huh?" I asked, giving her a confused glance.

Percy seemed to be exasperated by my responses. "It means you had one human parent, and one god parent."

I thought it over for a second, before coming up with an appropriate response. "Bullshit."

Percy looked a bit surprised. "I'm being serious!"

"That's not a reason to believe you." I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

Billy spoke up. "Would you believe us if you had proof that there were more...unexplainable things for you to see."

I shrugged. "I don't really see how anything else would help."

Billy then dropped his pants, revealing a pair of hairy hindquarters. I'm not sure which surprised me more; the fact hat he was half animal, or the fact that he'd actually just dropped his pants.

"Uh..."

"I'm a satyr, half-man, half-goat. We're found in some of the stories about the gods." he glanced up at me. "Believe us now?"

Not having anything to really say to that, I just nodded my head. I looked back at Percy. He just shrugged. "It was a bit of a shock to me too, but you'll get it once we explain it to you."

I nodded, extending my hand to him. "Uh, you saved my life, and I don't really know who you are. I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

"I'm Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, and this is - "

"I'm Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena."

I sighed, the pain in my head suddenly alleviating itself. Looking at Annabeth, memories rose, overshadowing her current look with a younger, more innocent looking girl. I'm not sure why, but it felt strange seeing Annabeth as her older self as the shadow faded away.

"You're older than I remember." I muttered, palming my face as I let this information sink in.

She gave me a curious look. "What?"

I shook my head. "Nothing. It's nothing."

I looked at the tree again, remembering how Annabeth had said she had been there when Thalia had been turned into a tree. With the memories I'd gotten from limbo, I realized that things had changed from whenever the other person had been here. And if I was right, then I'd gotten knowledge of Camp Half-Blood from Thalia.

I turned to Annabeth again. "Alright, I think I believe you guys now. Why don't you explain all of this 'Greek god' stuff to me. I'm sure we've got plenty of time."

**

* * *

**

AN: And now you know where we're at. That's right, it's not the beginning of the _Third_** book, but the _Second_ book. How many of you saw that coming?**

**By the way, a thanks and shout out to Drago Naiya, who helped edit this chapter.**

**Also, what pairing would you all like with Naruto? It'll be one of 3 people from the Percy Jackson universe:**

**Thalia  
Annabeth  
Viewers choice**

**Tell me what you think! I accept all kinds of reviews, just make sure you leave a review!**


	5. Chiron Teaches, and I Learn Nothing

Chapter 4: Chiron Teaches, and I Learn Nothing

* * *

As we walked through the camp, I couldn't help but be in awe of everything around us. There was just so much to take in. My eyes darted about, trying to see everything. I had so many questions I wanted to ask, like what everything was, and why certain things were happening in certain areas. Luckily for me, I wasn't the only one who wanted answers.

"Whasthat?" Tyson asked with a surprised voice, looking as fascinated as I felt.

"The stables for the pegasi." Percy answered, looking rather depressed for some reason. "The winged horses."

_Winged horses?_ I thought, not sure if he was going crazy or not. Sure enough though, one of the other campers walked out of the stables not a moment later leading a winged horse out. I just blinked in surprise. _Well that's new._

"Whasthat?" Tyson asked, pointing to the next area of interest.

"Um…those are the toilets."

_Good information to know. _I thought as I thought of the terrible time I had once had with the bathroom. And spoiled milk. That had not been a fun time to relive.

"Whasthat?"

"The cabins for the campers. If they don't know who your Olympian parent is, they put you in the Hermes cabin – that brown one over there – until you're determined. Then, once they know, they put you in your dad or mom's group."

I nodded absent mindedly for a second, before my eyes widened. "Hermes? You mean the guy who made that muscle stuff?"

Percy raised an eyebrow. "I don't know about that. Hermes is the god of travelers, which is why undetermined kids get put there."

"But, why is his name – "

"Sometimes, mortals use the names of the Olympians for their product." Annabeth said, a small smile crossing her face. "It's a name that they're familiar with, and it sometimes helps the product. But really, the gods need mortals to remember them. It helps keep them alive."

I scratched my head in confusion. "Uh, I'm not sure I get it."

Annabeth shook her head in an exasperated manner. "We'll explain later."

Tyson poked me on the shoulder. "You have a cabin?"

I chuckled. We'd only known each other for maybe a few moments, and I already knew that me and Tyson were going to get along just fine. He reminded me of myself and Konohamaru; innocent but with a lot more strength than people expected. "No Tyson, I just got here. Today is my first day, just like you."

Tyson smiled a very toothy grin. "Oh, I get it." He looked at Percy. "You have a cabin?"

"Number three." He said, pointing towards one of the buildings.

I looked towards the cabins, really noticing them for the first time. They were lined up in a U formation; one large one was in the center with twelve others on either side. The one that Percy was pointing to was grey building that was made of some kind of stone that felt nostalgic. If I remembered right, I'd seen similar stone for the bridge that Tazuna had been building when me and my team had gone to help protect him.

"You live with friends in the cabin?" Tyson asked, an innocent look in his eyes.

"No, it's just me." Percy said, a sad look in his eyes as he looked down. He looked depressed about something, but I wasn't sure what it was. I glanced at Annabeth, hoping to get some answers, but she just shook his head. I guess it was a sore subject for him.

We walked towards the largest house in the center of the ring of cabins. I noticed that there was something different about this cabin. There was a feeling of power that came from the cabin like there was something…powerful about it. As we walked towards it, I looked around the campgrounds, noticing a strange feeling in the air. I could tell that they were anxious, but there was something else. Resentment, anger, even a bit of frustration.

While the anxiousness was to be expected, I was mildly curious about the other emotions. Or better yet, how I could _feel_ all the emotions. I mean, this was not something that I should have been able to notice in normal situations. And yet here I was, noticing how one pair of kids were about at each others throats anger rolling off of them, while others whispered quietly with anxiety rolling off of them.

The whole camp was in a state of preparation. I watched some of the kids from one of the cabins walking out with swords like the kind that Percy had used on the hill. There were strange looking people walking around with bows in their hands, whispering nervously to one another.

After a short while of walking, we walked into the house. Now I will say, that my initial reaction to the whole camp was that things seemed strange. I mean, Billy was a half-man, half-goat thing, Percy and Annabeth (and according to them, me) were the children of gods, and they were preparing for war. However, the man in the room took the cake. Well, the half-man, half-horse dude took the cake. He was listening to some kind of music that I found to be a bit annoying. I've never heard music like that, and was hoping that I couldn't have to for a long, long time.

Tyson's eye widened as he took in the…man-horse. "Pony!"

"I beg your pardon?" The man-horse said, looking highly offended.

Annabeth stepped forward. "Hello Chiron."

The man-horse, Chiron, smiled sadly. "Hello Annabeth, it's good to see you again. And you Percy, you have certainly grown over the year."

Percy looked quite a bit brighter upon seeing Chiron. "Hey Chiron, how are you?"

"Fine, just fine." Chiron said, a look in his eyes that told me he was anything but fine.

"Chiron, what's going on? Isn't there anyone who can help the tree?" Annabeth asked, a pleading look in her eyes.

Chiron sighed. "No, I'm afraid not. I've tried everything I possibly know how to do. However, this type of poison is one that came from the Underworld, and that I have never seen. It is possible that it is a type of poison from a monster from the pits of Tartarus."

"Then we know who's responsible, Kro – "

"Do not invoke the titan lord's name, Percy. Especially not here, not now."

"But last summer he tried to cause a civil war in Olympus! This _has_ to be his idea. He'd get Luke to do it, that traitor."

Feeling way out of the loop, I raised my hand. "Question."

Chiron raised an eyebrow at my sudden intrusion. "Yes?"

"Where's Tartarus?"

Chiron chuckled. "You haven't been here before have you?"

I shook my head. As I did so, I noticed that Tyson seemed to have a pained expression on his face. Glancing from Chiron to Tyson, I figured out what he was thinking. Despite the fact that he was a bit taller than myself, I patted him on the shoulder. "Let it go Tyson."

Tyson looked down at me, his look turned to one of pleading. "But…pony…"

"Just let it go."

Chiron sniffed. "Young Cyclops, I am a _centaur_."

I tilted my head in confusion. "Horse-man said what?"

Chiron gave me a confused glance. "What?"

Percy and Annabeth chuckled at that, while Chiron looked between the three of us. Annabeth was the first to stop laughing, and become a bit more serious. "I'm sorry Chiron, Naruto doesn't know much of anything about the Greek gods. Hopefully you'll be able to teach him a thing or two to help him understand."

Chiron looked pained, which made Percy look at him nervously. "You are going to be able to help teach him, right?"

Chiron shook his head. "Sadly, I will be unable to assist in the teaching of heroes for the time being. I have been…relieved of duty, as it were."

"You got fired?" Annabeth asked, disbelief evident in her voice.

Chiron nodded, which seemed to make Percy agitated. "But, who's going to teach the heroes here? You've been doing it for years now, no one else could possibly take your place!"

Chiron shook his head. "I'm sorry Percy, but it's not my choice. The Olympian council has already determined my fate. When Zeus heard that the tree he'd made from his daughters spirit was poisoned, he had to see someone punished. As of now, I am no longer the camp activities director of this camp."

"Wait, what?" I asked. I was not liking the fact that I was being left completely in the dark. I've been left in the dark before, but I at least had some idea of what might be happening. I had more trust in the world around me. But now, I was in a different place, with different rules than I was used to.

And I knew _nothing_ about what was going on.

Chiron frowned. "Surely you've heard something of the Olympians."

I shrugged. "Not much. I mean, I know that the kids here are supposed to be their children, but that's pretty much all I know."

Annabeth sighed. "Well, then we have a lot to catch you up on."

Chiron nodded, filling the last of his possessions into his saddlebag. "Unfortunately, you'll have to do it without me. I will keep looking for a possible cure. Perhaps my journey to my kinsman in the Everglades will prove fruitful, as they may know of something I may have overlooked. The tree only has maybe a few weeks less…unless…"

"Unless what?" Annabeth asked.

Chiron shook his head. "No, it's just a thought. There is a possible source of magic that would be strong enough to reverse the poisons effects, but it was lost centuries ago."

"And that would be…?" I asked, letting the question hang in the air.

Chiron ignored me, pressing the stop button on his box. I stared at the box in surprise as the music suddenly stopped. _Okay, that was weird._

"Chiron, what sort of magic can do this? Please tell us." Percy said, a pleading look in his eyes.

Chiron sighed. "Percy, I need you to promise me that you won't act rashly. I told your mother that you shouldn't come here this summer. It's too dangerous."

"Oh yeah, and the world outside this camp is all the better." I muttered.

Chiron shook his head. "Better safe with his family than in danger here. But, since you are here, _stay _here. Train hard. Learn to fight. But do not leave."

"Are you insane?" I asked, receiving a glare from Annabeth. I ignored her. "You just told him that it was too dangerous here, and that you warned his mom about coming. But then a moment later, you just turn around and say _don't _leave? Am I the only one who is failing to see how he came to this conclusion?"

Percy shook his head. "Chiron's right. If I'd stayed at home, I'd have been safer. But now that I'm here, I can train. I can fight. And that, that's what really matters right now. We need to protect the camp to make sure it isn't overrun by monsters."

"Uh…never mind. You're both nuts." I muttered. Was it really that hard to understand? When someone tells you that a place is bad, you stay away. However, Chiron seemed totally at ease with telling Percy that what he did was wrong, and then turning around and saying that he had no other choice but to stay.

Not that I wouldn't break their rules to do what right. It was just too confusing to know _which_ rules to break.

Chiron chuckled. "Perhaps I have gone a bit, nuts, as you so delicately put it. However, I am also right. Percy should – "

"Time out." I said. Chiron didn't seem pleased by my interrupting him, but didn't say anything as I continued. "Why do you keep saying that?"

"Saying what?"

"Percy this, and Percy that. What is Percy to you guys?"

Annabeth sighed. "Percy is one of the children of the big three, the direct descendants of the titan lord. They are powerful gods, and their children are just as powerful."

"What does that have to do with Percy?"

"There's some prophecy that I'm not supposed to be told about that involves me either saving or destroying Olympus." Percy said, adding his two cents to the conversation.

A sudden noise caught our attention, with Chiron, Percy, and Annabeth ignoring it for the most part. Me and Tyson on the other hand jumped slightly at the noise.

"Uh, what was that?" I asked.

"The dinner conch." Chiron replied. He turned to Annabeth. "Stay with Percy, child. Keep him safe. I need you to swear to me that you will keep Percy from harm. Swear on the River Styx!"

"There's a river of sticks here?" I whispered to Tyson. He just shrugged, obviously as confused as I was.

"But Chiron – you told me that the gods made you immortal so long as you were needed to train heroes. If they dismissed you from camp – "

"Swear that you will do your best to keep Percy from harm." he insisted. "Swear upon the River Styx."

Annabeth looked dejected. "I – I swear upon the River Styx."

There was the sound of thunder outside the cabin. I couldn't help but growl. "Seriously, what the heck is wrong with this place? I keep on hearing thunder, and there's not a cloud in the sky!"

Everyone (except Tyson, who looked just as confused as I felt) laughed at that. It felt a little forced, but I suppose it was better than nothing considering the situation. "Boy, you will understand in time. Now go to dinner. You should meet your new camp councilor Tantalus there." Chiron said as he walked out the door.

We all watched him walk out of the building, a small sense of dread filling me as he went. It was almost like our last real line of defense was gone. Annabeth had tears slowly beginning to fall, and Tyson looked like he was going to start cry as well.

A moment after the door closed behind Chiron, I clutched my head in frustration. "What just happened?"

Percy backed away from me a bit. "Uh, I don't know."

Annabeth didn't seem to be taking my sudden meltdown very well either; tears rolling down her face faster than before. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing!" I said, trying to avoid the desire to wreck everything in the room. "I've just gotten out of somewhere dark and dreary, only to end up in a place I've never heard of before. Then, I get attacked by a monster, who is yelling at me to join some army while trying to kill me. _Then_ I get the opportunity to almost get robbed while trying to get something to eat! Oh, and that's not all. I then travel in a metal death trap that nearly crashes at least fifty times. After surviving that, I get attacked by giant metal fire-breathing bulls, and find out that my first friend here is half goat. And then, only then, do I get to meet the only person who might be able to help me right now. Thing is, I DON'T LEARN ANYTHING! Do _you_ think that you would take any of that very well?"

Poor Annabeth was at a lost of words, tears still rolling down her face. Percy had managed to get himself wedged into a corner, looking at me with a terrified expression. Tyson seemed to be the only one not affected by my outburst of anger. In fact, he looked like he was confused, and oddly happy.

Suddenly, there was a twisting feeling in my gut as a loud groaning noise erupted around us. I couldn't tell where exactly the noise was coming from, but the suddenness of the noise snapped me out of my frustration induced spiel. My gut quickly unclenched as I looked around the room. "What was that?"

"I dunno." Tyson said, glancing about the room. "Something smells good."

"What?"

I sniffed the air experimentally. I'm not good at sensing things, or increasing my senses, but even I could smell that faint smell. It was strange, like a combination of baking bread, cooked meat, and cheese. I took a deep breath, my mouth beginning to salivate at the smell.

"Naruto, I'm sorry." Annabeth said, falling to the floor.

I looked towards them, finally noticing their expressions, and the feeling rolling off of them. They were terrified. It didn't take long for me to figure out just what they were terrified of, seeing as I'd just completely lost it on them, I knelt down besides Annabeth. "I'm sorry, I just…I just lost it. I've been having a bad day, and no one really seems to be able to do anything to help me figure out what to do."

"So, you aren't mad anymore?" Percy asked, slowly easing his way towards me.

I scratched the back of my head. "Uh, yeah. I'm good now. Sorry about that little freak out."

Percy nodded. I suppose he used to being left in the dark, seeing as he was just as confused about some of the things that Chiron talked about as I was. He walked over to Annabeth, helping her up as she started to get more control of herself. The look in her eyes was one of terror, as well as anguish. As I watched her collect herself, I had a sudden epiphany. She and Chiron had been close.

Now I felt really bad; not only had I hurt them, but I'd hurt them while they were already in pain. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize – "

"Realize what?" Annabeth asked. She was still a little shaky, but looked more composed than I felt.

"Chiron. I didn't realize that you were so close to him."

Another look of pain crossed her face. "He – he was like a father to me."

A sudden relaxing feeling flowed through my head. I saw a man, with goggles on his head looking at me with a happy look on his face. Little Annabeth stood in front of a fire, showing it before tearing the picture in half and throwing it onto a small fire that was glowing in front of her. There was someone else there, someone I couldn't quite see yet.

Right before I saw who was there, I was suddenly brought out of my thoughts by Tyson tapping me on the shoulder. "You okay?"

I rubbed my forehead with a sigh. "Uh, yeah. I just have a headache." I glanced up at him. "Thanks for the concern."

Tyson smiled. "We go eat now?"

Percy and Annabeth looked at each other, sharing a strange look with each other. Finally, after a moment of their staring, Percy spoke up. "Sure big guy, let's go get some food."

* * *

I stood in the shadows of one of the columns, watching the procession of people. I still didn't know much about how things worked here, but I was pretty sure that since I was new I should probably wait. Plus, Percy and Tyson seemed to be fine with waiting. Well, Tyson was. Percy was just looking over the campers with a sad look.

For the most part, everyone was fine. If Annabeth was still shaken up, she was no longer showing it. She walked tall as she led the members of her cabin to the food line. She didn't look like the oldest, but she definitely had the air of someone in command. I did find that it was amazing how so many people could have the same color of hair and eyes, while looking so vastly different. Then again, it was probably because their parent was the same; Athena if I remembered right.

Following her group, was the other girl, Clarisse. She had a nice little cut on her cheek, along with one of her arms in a sling. She stood talk with a very confident look in her eyes as she lead her group forward. There was some sort of sign on her back that I'm guessing was an insult of some sort. It wasn't really a nice thing to do, especially since she had helped take down the bulls that could have destroyed it. _I wonder what idiot is in charge here._

I took my eyes off the campers going to get their food, and took a good look at the two people sitting at the table at the head of the group. One man was in a spotted multicolored shirt, nice shorts, and shoes with dark cloth sticking out of the top. He had a pudgy belly, as well as a red splotchy face, that reminded me somewhat of Tsunade after a long night of drinking and working the slots. Well, getting played by the slots.

Behind him was another half-man, half-goat man. I couldn't remember what they were called, though on my behalf, I was only told what they were called once. He stood behind the pudgy man, peeling some red fruit of some kind and handing it to him. I've never seen fruits (or vegetables, I can't really tell which) like them before.

Sitting besides him was a pale, stick thin man. He had bags under his eyes, dirty fingernails, and grey hair that looked like someone had hacked away at it with a serrated kunai. There was also that strange feeling in me, like I could tell what _he_ was feeling. Hungry, angry, frustrated. I don't think I've ever felt like that before; especially not at the same time. And then…there was his orange jumpsuit. I couldn't help but palm my face as I looked him over.

_Do I look that bad in orange? Nah, I make orange look good._ I thought with a chuckle as I noticed that Percy and Tyson were heading towards the food line. Jogging slightly to catch up, I couldn't help but notice the looks we were getting as we walked past. Or rather, the looks Tyson was getting as we walked past. I grimaced at the realization that despite the obvious fact that he'd just saved them earlier, no one was willing to trust him.

"Who invited _that_ here?" Someone muttered. Unfortunately for them, I saw who said it and was more than willing to go over and knock his teeth out. Luckily for him, Tyson noticed and put his hand on my shoulder. With a small sigh, I reluctantly returned to following him and Percy. I did make a point to remember the unlucky kid's face so I could get some form of revenge on him later.

"Well, well, if it isn't Peter Johnson. My millennium is complete." The fat man said, an almost disgusted look on his face.

I glanced around. Seeing no one, I turned back to the fat man. "Who?"

Percy looked, and felt, furious for some reason. My mind mulled it over for a second, before drawing a blank on it. The fat man chuckled. "I'm talking to the young man next to you."

I glanced at Percy, the wheels turning in my head. Surprisingly, I was actually able to figure out what he was doing. He was insulting Percy. A small smirk formed as I turned back to him. "Oh, I get it. So, anything else I should know fat man?"

I could practically hear a pin drop at that comment. The fat man looked shocked, then angry that I would just call him that. The man sitting next to him looked at me curiously, almost like he expected me to suddenly blow up or something.

"What did you say?" The fat man asked slowly.

I shrugged. "I don't know your name. So unless I know your name, you can't really blame me for thinking of some other way to remember you, eh fat man?"

He seemed to fume for a moment. Then, he suddenly started chuckling. "You're a strange kid." He stood up, giving me an appraising look over before speaking. "My name is Dionysus, but the kids here call me Mr. D."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Naruto Uzumaki." I said, holding out my hand. After a tense second, he shook it.

"Naruto, eh? I've already heard quite a bit about your…heroic actions this morning." The skinny man said, giving me a disgusted look. Then, a cold smile crossed his face. "I am Tantalus, on special assignment here until, well, until my Lord Dionysus decides otherwise."

I nodded. "Nice to meet you Tantalus."

Tantalus snorted, glaring at me. However, his gaze quickly fell on Percy. "And I've heard a _great_ deal about you Perseus Jackson. I _do_ expect you to refrain from any trouble."

"Trouble?" Percy said, in a rather demanding voice.

Mr. D snapped his fingers, a paper appearing from thin air. He handed it to me, allowing me to get a good look at the title heading.

_Troubled Kid Torches Gymnasium. _I scratched my head at that. I've never heard of a gymnasium before.

"Yes, trouble." Tantalus said with a slimy tone to his voice. "You caused plenty of that last summer, I understand."

Percy felt mad again, so I decided to do something impulsive (and probably stupid). I gave Tantalus one of my trademark fox like grins. "Trouble? You mean like turning the camp upside-down?"

Tantalus blinked. "Um, something like that." A goat-man walked by nervously, setting a plate of food in front of Tantalus. Tantalus licked his lips as he stared at the food. I myself was trying not to drool over the food. It just smelt so good, and I was surprisingly still hungry despite the fact that I'd already eaten cheeseburgers earlier. Tantalus looked at the empty goblet and said, "Root beer. Barq's special stock. 1967."

To my surprise, the previously empty goblet was suddenly filled with a brown bubbly liquid. He seemed hesitant to touch it, like he was expecting to get burnt.

"Go on, then, old fellow." Mr. D said with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Maybe it'll work this time."

As Tantalus reached forward, the goblet suddenly raced down the table. He seemed to notice a few drops on the table, but as he reached forward to touch them, they speed off. Growling in frustration, he stabbed a utensil at the food. Similar to the goblet, the plate moved away from his utensil. After he made another stab at it, the plate rushed towards me and leapt into my hands.

"Blast! Give me that plate!" Tantalus yelled, almost lunging over the table to get to the food.

I took a step back, the full aroma of the food hitting my nose. "Oh no you don't, this smells too good. Besides, it likes me better."

Mr. D didn't bother concealing his laughter as Tantalus sat back down with a scowl on his face. "Deary me, I'm sorry about that. Perhaps, another few days. Believe me, old chap, working here will be torture enough for you. I'm sure your curse will wear off in time."

"Until then, remind me to stick around, this food is great!" I said, as I dug into the food with my fingers. I knew that there was some kind of utensil I was supposed to use, since everyone else was using them. There was just one problem; they weren't the chopsticks I was used too.

Tantalus glared at me. "Do you know how long I've gone without food, or drink? I don't believe that someone like you can comprehend being parched for three thousand years."

I shook my head. "Nope, and I hope I never do. This is to delicious to give it up anytime soon."

Tantalus grumbled while Mr. D grinned. "Naruto, I do believe that we should get along just fine. Do you know who your god parent is?" I shook my head, causing him to sigh. "A shame. I did so want to thank whichever one of my sibling sired you."

I shrugged. "Maybe they'll send a note or something."

He chuckled at that. "Yes, maybe they will." His gaze then drifted towards Percy. "Peter, go sit down. The pizza tonight is absolutely divine."

Percy had a confused look on his face, but seemed to understand what Dionysus was saying. He turned to the table that Mr. D had indicated. "Come on, Tyson."

"Oh, no." Tantalus said. "The monster stays here. We must decide what to do with it."

I glanced at Mr. D who shrugged. He didn't care what happened, he just wanted a show.

"_Him._" Percy said through gritted teeth. "His name is Tyson.

Tantalus raised an eyebrow. I quickly got the message he was trying to give. 'Am I supposed to care?'

I grabbed Tyson's arm. "Come on Tyson, we're going to sit down and eat."

"What do you think you're doing?" Tantalus hissed, glaring daggers at me.

I shrugged off his 'killing intent' as I gave Tyson and Percy a push towards Percy's table. "Ignoring you."

Tantalus grabbed my arm, the plate in my hand leaping into the fire just a few feet away. "I am the activities director. I will NOT be made a fool of. Especially not by some ungrateful – "

I had already stopped listening to him, my eyes on the flames that were currently eating the food I'd been eating. Turning my attention back to him, I unleashed _my_ killing intent on him. And unlike him, I'd been trained in how to manipulate killing intent to get various results. The result I was currently going for, was fear.

"I was still eating that." I growled, concentrating on the image I wanted Tantalus to see.

Channeling my chakra up his arm, I let it get carried away into his own chakra system. Then, with a little tweaking of the image in my head, I let loose the image of the Shinigami overshadowing me. The result was instantaneous. Tantalus, jumped away from me, knocking over the table on his way back.

Mr. D gave me a curious look. "Yes, you are definitely an interesting person Naruto. I do think that our time together will be most…enlightening."

You'd think that would give me a good feeling about how things at camp were going to go from there. It didn't.

**

* * *

**

AN: This chapter came a little later than I wanted, but here it is! I portrayed Chiron and Tantalus like they are in the book, and had Naruto inject some logic into their conversations. And don't worry, there's a reason to everything I'm doing.

**And now for some results!**

**Thalia: 18  
Clarisse: 4  
Annabeth: 3  
Niade: 2  
Artemis: 2  
Bianca: 1  
Calypso: 1**

**I've got to say, the last three caught me by surprise. However, it's time I explained something.**

**Naruto x Thalia is a really used pairing in Naruto/PJO crossovers. Which is why, I want to know _why_. I've decided not to base this solely on how many votes the pairing girl gets, but by how persuasively you readers can try to convince me that they should be paired with Naruto. I haven't seen any other authors do this, so I'm hoping to see some interesting reviews.**

**Also, another really used concept is the "Artemis is Naruto's mother" concept. While I love reading these too, I have also decided to give you readers a little info every other chapter in the Author's Notes. ****This chapters info: Artemis is not Naruto's mother.**

**Thanks for reading. I look forward to your reviews!**


	6. I Drive Everyone Crazy

Chapter 5: I Drive Everyone Crazy

* * *

I had to drag Percy and Tyson away from the head table to their own table. Percy looked like he wanted to argue with me, but was probably afraid that I'd go nuts again. He was probably right.

Tyson on the other hand, was glancing between me and Percy with a smile on his face. "We're sitting together?" he asked.

I grinned back. "Yeah Tyson, we're sitting together."

That seemed to break Percy from his stupor, as he suddenly began to sputter. "No! We're supposed to sit at our own tables!"

I gave him a confused look. "Isn't that what I'm doing?"

Percy shook his head. "The gods have all sorts of issues with each other, and don't really like their children sitting at other gods tables. Hermes is the exception, because he's the god of travelers."

"And, I'm supposed to care if they care which table I sit at because?"

Percy blinked. "Uh, that's how it's always been."

I shook my head. "I've heard better excuses than that. Now, if your parent doesn't mind, I'd like to eat now."

Percy mumbled under his breath. "I'm not sure what Poseidon will do to you."

I gave him a shove towards his table, almost knocking him over the bench. He managed to catch himself in time to set himself down with myself and Tyson. A moment later, a strange looking man walked over with a circular object. I'd pretty much given up on trying to understand what half of the stuff in this camp was; I'd probably do better waiting and getting Percy or Annabeth to explain when the man was gone.

As the man left however, I was too busy poking and prodding the circular object. It looked like bread, but it was covered in a yellow substance like what had been on my cheeseburger; I'm guessing it's the 'cheese'. The thing that got the more part of my attention was the black stuff on it. Black usually meant that the food was bad right? So why would they give us bad food? Then again, I wouldn't put it past Tantalus to try and poison us.

Percy and Tyson both took a piece of it and walked towards a small fire. I grabbed a piece, somewhat surprised that it just came apart like that, and followed them. Percy then took a piece of it and scrapped it into the fire, Tyson following shortly after. Percy said something like a chant, with Tyson repeating it a moment after, "Poseidon, accept my offering."

I had watched a few other people do something similar, saying different names as they scrapped their food into the fire. I thought about it for a moment before scrapping a bit into the fire. "Olympians, please accept my offering."

_And could someone help me get some answers?_ I mentally added before walking back to Percy's table.

Percy was picking at his food while Tyson was sticking each piece into his mouth delicately, like he was afraid that they would fall apart in his hands. With his hands, I wouldn't doubt it. I picked up my own piece, taking a small bit of it. A grin crossed my face as I put a bit more in my mouth. _This stuff isn't half bad_.

Percy twiddled his thumbs for a moment glancing at me and Tyson. Once he seemed sure nothing was going to happen, he relaxed. "Hey Naruto."

I glanced up at him, a stringy bit of cheese still stuck to the food in my mouth. "Yeah?"

"Were you serious when you said you didn't know who the gods were?"

I nodded, a small chuckle slipping out. "I kinda crash landed here, so I don't really know much of anything. Why, what's up?"

"Uh nothing. It just kind of explains why you seem to have no fear of any of the gods. You even stood up to Dionysus and didn't blink."

"Who?"

"Mr. D."

"He's a god?" I asked, my eyes turning towards Mr. D with an appraising look. He seemed normal enough, but there was something that seemed a bit off to him. Like he was trying to hide or something like that. "Huh, he's not too bad."

"You don't know the half of what he and the other gods can do." Percy muttered.

I grinned. "Enlighten me."

We spent the rest of dinner talking about the history to the gods. Well, Percy talked. I was still eating and after a long day, felt quote content to sit and listen. He told me about the Titans who turned out to be the gods parents, some of the monsters he'd encountered, and a few of the heroes that he knew about. These heroes included the heroic actions he took the year before to retrieve Zeus's lightning bolt (apparently it was a big deal).

As everything began to wind down, I nodded my head. "I see. So these geek gods -"

"_Greek_." Percy whispered through clenched teeth, his eyes wide with fear.

"Right. Greek. Sorry. Anyways, so these gods are still around, and having kids? Oh, except for the 'Big Three,' who are supposedly the strongest of the three, because of some treaty. And that's only because they were trying to prevent a prophecy...but failed when you and Thalia were born. That about right?"

Percy nodded. "You've got a pretty good memory Naruto."

I scratched the back of my head nervously. I have gotten praise before, but it still made me feel uncomfortable. Of course, it usually wasn't my intelligence that was getting complimented. Come to think of it, I usually didn't get a chance to expand my intelligence, seeing as I was generally focusing on my physical training. Though, I had been getting better with some of the things I'd been learning under the tutelage of Pervy Sage.

A small knot formed in my gut as I remembered him. It felt like forever since I'd seen him. Especially I didn't know how long I'd been stuck in limbo. For all I know, years could have gone by, and I would be none the wiser.

"Hey Naruto, you okay?" Tyson asked.

I shook my head, trying my best to put on a happy face. "Yeah, just thinking of some stuff. It's nothing, really."

Tyson looked a bit happier, and took another bite of his food.

Suddenly, a loud noise sounded through the dinning area. It took everything in me to avoid letting my natural instinct to throw my non-existent kunai at the sound. Glancing over, I saw a satyr (Percy was kind enough to fill me in, though he appeared sad as he talked about them) holding a shell horn, blowing into it as everyone's attention was drawn towards Tantalus and Mr. D.

Tantalus stood, his frail form looking almost like a shadow against the flames if it weren't for his orange suit. "Yes, well," Tantalus said as talking began to die out. "Another fine meal! Or so I'm told." I chuckled as he tried to 'sneak' towards a nearby plate only to have it shoot away as soon as he got within a half a foot of it.

"And here on my first day of authority, I'd like to say what a pleasant form of punishment it is to be here." Tantalus continued.

I blinked in confusion. _Punishment is pleasant? Since when?_

"Over the course of the summer, I hope to torture, er, interact with each and every one of you children. You all look good enough to eat." Tantalus said, sending a particularly nasty glare at me.

I just grinned my usual fox-like grin in response. I still knew nothing of Tantalus, and his past, but I knew enough to know that while his threats were just as real as Zabuza's or even Orochimaru's, he couldn't do anything to carry out those threats. If he could, he probably wouldn't be working here in the first place.

Mr. D clapped lightheartedly, a few other people from the other tables joining in. Most of them looked a bit disturbed by what Tantalus had said, though I can't say why. Percy had told me that this was a training camp for heroes, so someone like him really shouldn't have been too much of a hassle for them. Then again, they were in training.

"And now some changes!" Tantalus gave everyone a crooked grin. "We are reinstituting the chariot races!"

Murmuring broke out amongst the tables. I blinked in surprise as I suddenly felt a surge of emotion from everyone; for the most part, all I felt was fear. However, as I looked at some of the other cabin members faces, there were looks of excitement at the prospect of this, chariot race.

I leaned over to Percy. "Can he do that on his first day?"

Percy shrugged. "I don't know, I've never met an authority figure who did something like this before."

"Now I know that these races were discontinued some years ago due to, ah, technical problems." Tantalus said, a slimy grin crossing his face.

"Three deaths and twenty-six mutilations." one of the Apollo kids said.

I shook my head. Those did not sound like the kind of statistics I'd want to hear when going through an activity. Then again, the Chunnin exam wasn't much better. Especially when I remembered the Forest of Death, and all its friends. I shuddered at the memory of the giant snake that had eaten me when I'd taken the exam two years ago. _Kami, has it really only been that long? It doesn't feel like that long._

Tantalus looked positively pleased by the facts that the son of Apollo had told us. "Yes, yes! But I know that you will all join me in welcoming the return of this camp tradition. Golden laurels will go to the winning charioteers each month. Teams may register in the morning? The first race will be held in three days time. We will release you from most of your regular activities to prepare your chariots and choose your horses. Oh, and did I mention, the victorious team's cabin will have no chores for the month in which they win?"

Everyone seemed to suddenly become far more animated by this prospect. Apparently, no chores was a good incentive for people do something life threatening, and from the sounds of it, pretty stupid. However, not everyone seemed to be so happy about this, as I felt a sudden spike of anger from one of the tables. I turned towards it, and realized it was Clarisse. I noticed that she was at the Ares table, the god of war if I remembered correctly. This peaked my interest. After all, if she was a child of the god of war, why would she seem opposed to something like this?

"But, sir!" Clarisse yelled, nervousness rolling off of her as she stood up. Some of the other kids at the other tables seemed rather amused by something, but I couldn't tell what. She glanced at a few of the other members of her table before speaking. "What about patrol duty? I mean, if we drop everything to ready our chariots – "

"Ah, the hero of the day," Tantalus said, cutting her off. "Brave Clarisse, who single-handedly bested the bronze bulls!"

Clarisse looked startled, as a blush crossed her face. "Um, I didn't – "

"And modest too." Tantalus grinned.

"Say what?" I said, scratching my head in confusion.

Tantalus and a few other people gave me a somewhat confused glance. My guess would be that he wasn't really expecting me, or anyone for that matter, to cut him off. "What's the matter boy?"

I shrugged. "I dunno, I mean, Clarisse is definitely the hero of the day. If it weren't for her, those bulls definitely would have gotten into the camp and destroyed it. Wouldn't you say that she showed good judgment, and that you should trust that judgment in the defense of the camp?"

I had no idea of half of the stuff I'd said, but judging by the looks I was getting, it was the right thing to say. Clarisse gave me a grateful look, before looking at Tantalus with a resolute stare. Tantalus had lost whatever sway he'd had over the camp in that moment, and I was not going to let him get it back without a fight.

Tantalus growled. "While I'm certain that is true, I am the activities director, and as such will make the final decisions on such matters."

I put my hand on my chin in a thinking manner. "You know, I heard this was a camp for heroes in training. Aren't heroes supposed to exercise good leadership skills?" I grinned. "So wouldn't putting something like this to a vote make a good test of leadership and devotion?"

Tantalus looked torn. One the one hand, I had his hands tied with the entire camp looking at him with a curious gaze. On the other hand was his own desires, ones that probably wouldn't end well for members of the camp. I was feeling quite happy with my new skill of feeling people's emotions, because feeling his frustration was all the more satisfying.

Twisting his face into a smile, Tantalus nodded. "Alright then, I do believe that a compromise is in order. For all of those who desire to participate in the chariot race, you may sign up tomorrow at the Big House. The same goes for those who wish to do border patrol. Just go in and sign up, nothing too it."

Clarisse seemed to think it over, chewing on her lip. I could feel the conflicting fears and doubts floating about from everyone. No one was really sure of what to think of it; after all, it was a lot to take in. Mulling it over in my head for a moment, I stood up. "Mr. D, I'd like to request tonights night shift. I know I just got here, but I'll take any opportunity to help those who've helped me. I promise to do everything I can to help out…and I never go back on my word."

A few of the tables burst into sporadic conversation as to what I was doing. The Ares table weren't all giving me the best of looks, but there were more than a few who were smiling and nodding. Clarisse in particular looked quite relieved to hear that someone was backing her up on this issue. A few of the other boys turned to her and started discussing something with her. She seemed to be trying to keep up her strong image, but she looked dead on her feet. In fact, I was somewhat surprised to see she was still on her feet.

Mr. D gave me an approving look that soon had me scratching the back of my head nervously. I had only been in the camp for a day, and I was already getting the approval of one of the gods. How awesome am I?

"Yes, well, thank you for that. Now, back to other pressing issues." Tantalus said, regaining his composure. "Before we proceed to the campfire and sing-along, one slight housekeeping issue. Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase have seen fit, for some reason, to bring _this_ here." Tantalus motioned towards Tyson.

"_This?_" I asked, rage quickly coursing through me as I heard some of the random conversations that were springing up. I began to stand, but found a weight on my back was holding me down. Percy had practically leapt across the table to sit me back down, and not cause a scene.

"Yes, _that._" Tantalus said, ignoring my outburst. "You see, Cyclopes have a reputation for being bloodthirsty monsters with a very small brain capacity."

"Bigger than yours." I muttered under my breath. Tantalus didn't notice, as he continued his little speech. "Under normal circumstances, I would release this beast into the woods and have you hunt it down with torches and pointed sticks."

By this point, Tyson had joined Percy in holding me down. They both were straining slightly as I glared daggers at Tantalus. He talked about _monsters_ and _beasts_, but he didn't really know them. After all, Tyson was one of those who'd helped save the camp.

"But who knows? Perhaps this Cyclops is not as horrible as most of its brethren. Until it proves worthy of destruction, we need a place to keep it!"

"Tyson." I growled. Everyone looked at me, most were no longer surprised by my cutting Tantalus off by this point. "His name is _Tyson_."

Tantalus smirked, opening his mouth to make some smart retort. Before he could speak, a low groaning noise filled the camp. Everyone glanced around, trying to identify the source of the noise. I took some deep breaths, trying to calm down. Whatever this was, it had happened before when I'd gotten angry in the Big House. The last thing we needed was more panic.

As my heart rate slowed down, the groaning noise slowly ebbed away. Tantalus and Mr. D both gave me a curious glance, but then moved on to 'more important matters'. "Yes, as I was saying, it needs a place to sleep. I'd suggest the stables, but it might spook the horses. Perhaps, the Hermes cabin?"

I shook my head, glancing back at Percy and Tyson. "I'm good guys. You can let go now."

"You sure?" Percy asked, his grip loosening just a bit. Tyson on the other hand, just removed his hand and gave me one of his toothy grins.

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"Surely there is something it can do. Perhaps menial chores or the like? Come now, there must be somewhere that we can kennel it."

I swear, he was asking for someone to rip off his head. I was more than willing to, but had my attention drawn to the campers as everyone gasped.

I glanced behind me, looking through the tree line. There didn't appear to be anything startling. I gave myself a once over. Same as I always did. I looked over at Percy and Tyson.

And understood a bit better what they were shocked by.

There, glowing over Tyson's head, was a green three pronged spear-like weapon. Percy had explain that a similar symbol had appeared over his own head during his previous year. It was the sign of Poseidon. The sign of his, and now Tyson's, father.

Tantalus roared with laughter, cutting through the mystified feeling that had swept over the camp. "Well, that solves where it will be staying. By the gods, I can see the family resemblance!"

By this point, everyone else was laughing as well. I noticed that Annabeth, Clarisse, and a few other people weren't laughing, and silently thanked them. Thing were going to get interesting around here, of that much I was certain.

* * *

I stood on the far side of the boundary, dressed in the Greeks traditional armor. Despite the fact that I was obviously no threat to them, most of the campers seemed to be untrusting towards me. Then again, someone poisons a tree, then metal bulls attack and a random guy comes to the rescue? I would probably be a little suspicious myself. After a short discussion, they had eventually come to the decision to have me guard this particular area. And when I say 'this particular area', I mean the same area Clarisse was guarding. I guess they thought she'd guard me best.

I looked down at the armor they'd given me. I was wearing a bronze breastplate, with a pair of leather arm and shin guards. I decided not to wear the helmet since I'd seen just how much protection that had against the special abilities some monsters apparently had. To complete my look, one of their swords was strapped to a leather belt that hung freely at my side.

I fiddled with the sword absentmindedly. It didn't give me as much comfort as my kunai pouch did, but it was definitely better than nothing. I glanced at Clarisse, an uncomfortable silence forming as she said nothing, her eyes scanning our surroundings. With nothing better to do, I slowly drew the blade and began to inspect it.

Now, I'm not really much of a swordsman myself since I'm a ninja. There aren't many ninja who really used swords, but those ninja who did were experts at using them. If you were just practicing though, even someone like me could swing a sword around and get a feel for how it moves.

Moving in a small circle, I gave it a few test swings. The weight of it wasn't really that bad, though there was a bit too much in the blade. I noticed that the way the celestial bronze felt was eerily similar way to the way that most kunai's weight felt. In essence, it really was just an oversized kunai.

I took another couple of swings, soon realizing that it was a bit heavier than it looked. If I wanted to throw it, it probably wouldn't go the way I wanted it to, meaning that this was supposed to be a close combat weapon. I growled as I tried to turn the odd weight placement to my advantage, turning a fumbling swing into a torrent of slashes that would hopefully push an opponent back. As I stopped, I felt a sense of exhilaration. I could practically feel everything around me, my eyes darting back and forth along the length of he valley that led to the camp. I felt...alive.

A slow clap drew me out of my elated state. I glanced back towards the clapping. Clarisse stood there, a look of amusement on her face. I'd forgotten she was there. Shaking my head, I gave her the best serious look I could. "What?"

"Oh nothing." Clarisse said. "It's just that the way you swing that sword, I never would have known that this was your first time wielding one."

I raised an eyebrow at that. "Are you mocking me?"

She had a small smirk on her face, like she was going to say something witty. Then, a tired look overtook her previous expression. The feeling of frustration and disappointment slowly rolled off of her in slow waves. I wondered what was making her feel that way, but decided that it probably would be smarter to not say anything.

After a moment of silence, she shrugged. "Not really. You aren't a natural with a sword, but with a bit of work you could be taking on monsters in no time. But right now, your swings are wild. If a monster were to attack, you'd be better off beating it with your fists like you did with the bull."

"Oh." There wasn't much more I could say about it. After thinking it over I decided her answer was nice; she wasn't really saying I was bad, just that I needed to improve.

Her gaze turned towards the hillside, sighing softly. "This is nuts."

"Which part? The tree dying, the new counselor, the attacking monsters, or the fact that you're on guard duty with me?" I asked.

Clarisse growled at me, a heated glare leveled at me. "None of your business!"

I rubbed my chin thoughtfully, ignoring her glare. "Personally, both counselors have been pretty useless. I mean, one was as informative as a rock, and the one we have now is as dumb as a rock."

Clarisse blinked in surprise. Then she laughed lightly. "Yeah, Chiron's riddles can get a bit annoying at times, but he means well."

I shook my head. "I'm not sure I believe that."

"Why not?"

I sighed. "Before he left, he told us that he had an idea of some object that could cure the tree's poison. But when me and Percy asked him, he just shook us off and started telling him to stay at camp because of some prophecy. It just doesn't make sense."

Clarisse said nothing, returning her gaze towards the valley between the road and Camp Half Blood. I guess she'd decided to ignore me. With nothing better to do, I kept swinging my sword around in the wild way I had before.

After goofing off with the sword for about ten minutes, I decided to up the practice. Grinning from ear to ear, I put my hands into the very familiar cross shaped position. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

A small poof of smoke filled the area around me. After a couple of seconds, eight replicas stepped forward. I scratched my cheek in confusion. _Wasn't I trying to make ten clones? Oh well._

"What in the gods name did you just do?"

I glanced back to Clarisse, who had grabbed her spear and was holding it in a defensive position. My eyes widened slightly as I noticed that there was a small spark of electricity building up around the tip of the spear. An with the scowl on her face, I wasn't really willing to make a mess of things.

Unfortunately, all of my clones were following the same thoughts as I was. Not a second after I opened my mouth to speak, at least four of my clones broke out into chattering. Soon, all of them were talking, making animated motions with their hands to try and get some point across. With all the chaos they were causing though, I almost forgot what I was supposed to be explaining. Luckily, or unluckily, Clarisse did not forget.

One of my clones got to close to her, still trying to help explain. In a flash of motion, the clone suddenly had a large gash in its neck. All of the clones instantly stopped talking as they watched the other clone struggle for a couple of seconds in pain and confusion before the clone finally dispelled. I placed my hand to my throat, an odd feeling going through me. Like I really knew what it was to die like that. Remembering just who had killed my clone, the clones and I raised out hands in surrender as Clarisse leveled her spear at us, lightning now freely dancing about on the spear's tip.

"What did you do?" Clarisse growled.

I raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Other people here can't do this?"

"No they can't you moron! What, did you think this was how everyone reacts to normal stuff?"

I shrugged. "This is the first time I've done this here, so I wouldn't know. I mean, it's just a clone technique."

Clarisse lowered her spear a bit. "A what?"

"You know, a clone technique. Like water clones, earth clones, or even my own shadow clones. They're chakra constructs people can use for various purposes." I explained. Despite the fact that I was mentally applauding myself for remembering the different types of solid clones, I was also concerned. Instead of becoming more at ease, Clarisse seemed to look more confused and tense. I decided I should simplify it a bit more. "They're copies of me."

"That's not possible." Clarisse said, poking one of my clones with her spear.

The lightning on her spear jumped onto the clone's breastplate. The clone jumped in surprise. "Watch it! That hurts you know!"

"How?" Clarisse asked, backing up slightly.

"That's a good question." I said, poking the clone nearest to me. He looked somewhat uncomfortable, but then, I'm sure I'd be acting the same way if someone was scrutinizing me. Sort of like a paradox where I can watch myself, while feeling my own scrutiny. I don't think to much of it. Gives me a headache.

Not really seeing anything different about the clone, I pulled him to the side. "Defense only."

The clone pouted at my command. "Fine."

We both got into ready stances, eying each other for a second before I rushed forward. Since my defense has never been good, my clone stumbled back as he attempted to block my blows. I did everything I could to hit the clone; coming in at odd angles, spinning around to hit harder, even kicking at him a couple of times to throw him off balance. He just saw through my different attacks, and countered in whatever way he could. I saw that his form (my form...stupid paradox) was sloppy, and I quickly found an opening.

Charging forward, my blade sped towards my clones now unprotected neck. A moment to late, my clone saw and tried to dodge. Instead of taking his head off like I'd planned, my blade cut into my clones shoulder. I quickly understood just how effective the bade was, as it nearly cut through the bone in my clones right arm. There was just one problem.

My clone didn't go poof like normal.

Instead, it fell backwards onto its butt, clenching its teeth to prevent itself from crying out in pain as blood slowly seeped from the wound. I was immediately at its side, grabbing the wounded arm and trying to stop the blood from flowing out. My clone glared at me. "What the heck was that?"

"I don't know." I shook my head, trying to remember the description of he Shadow Clone Jutsu from the Scroll of Sealing. Going over it in my head, I couldn't think of anything that would explain what was going on.

"Hold up." my clone grabbed my shoulder with his good arm. "Let's try something."

I looked at my clone in confusion until I noticed the right side of his badly was disappearing. My eyes widened as he slowly faded into nothing. Then, I felt his energy suddenly roll through me. My arm felt like it was sore, but it was completely uninjured. Then the _really_ strange thing happened; I saw myself rushing forward, swinging wildly, hacking at my own, my clone's, arm.

_Do I always look that angry when I'm fighting?_ I though as I turned towards my other clones. They had a startled expression on their faces. "Uh boss? Did you see that? Yourself, attacking yourself?"

I nodded. "This, this isn't normal. This world changed the Shadow Clone Jutsu. Plus, seeing stuff like that usually doesn't happen. Which can only mean one thing."

All of my clones looked at each other. Then, a look of realization crossed their faces. "The Shadow Clone Jutsu is now even more awesome!" they yelled, pumping their fists into the air.

I grinned. "That's right. Now, let's test out just how much we can do! There's six of you left, so we'll split into three groups of two. You two go patrol the hillside side, and make sure to let us know if anything is coming. You two practice with your swords. If I'm right, we should get better as you guys practice. And you two practice tree walking."

"Aw, do we have too?" one of the tree walking clones whined, while the other snickered.

I nodded. "We were stuck doing nothing for a long time, so I'm out of practice with my control. I tried making ten clones, but I only made eight. Wait a minute, why am I explaining this to you? Why don't you know what I'm thinking?"

My clone gave me a shamed grin. "I forgot?"

I smacked the back of his head. "Go practice!"

"Yes sir!" my clones chanted, each of them giving me a mock salute before running off to do what they'd been told to do. I watched them leave with a small feeling of satisfaction.

"You know what, fine! Don't tell me anything!" Clarisse suddenly yelled at me, making me jump a bit. She's a scary girl. "It's not like I might need to know what's going on or anything like that!" she yelled as she stormed off.

I watched her go, silently wondering what I'd done to anger her.

**

* * *

**

AN: I'm bringing jutsu's into PJO? Oh boy, I hope no one tries anything stupid with Naruto.

**Now, some things for all my loyal reviewers.**

**First off, the pairing for Naruto. After reviewing your reviews (dang paradox keep popping up!) I decided to cut a few people out. I know that some of you were rooting for them to be paired with Naruto, and while most of them were very unique, they wouldn't be able to spend enough time to form a _good_ relationship with Naruto. As such, here are the final 4 girls.**

**Thalia  
Annabeth  
Clarisse  
Bianca**

**(please note that I cannot, have not, and _will not_ write a harem story)**

**These characters will all get their chance at having a little time with Naruto, but in the end, I will have to make a choice. So show me what your thoughts on all these pairings are, so I know where you are coming from.**

**Also, for Naruto's god parent. I know that in PJO Percy and Tyson were given signs pretty quick, but Naruto isn't going to have that luxury. As such, you should see plenty more of frustrated Naruto in the coming chapters.**

**That, and more of Naruto using his new found logic to uber pwn Tantalus. (laughs evilly)**

**Thank you for reading! I look forward to doing the same with your reviews.**


	7. I Bring On The Pain

Chapter 6: I Bring On The Pain

* * *

I didn't get any sleep that night.

Shortly after midnight, Clarisse and I were relieved of guard duty. Clarisse didn't seem all that happy about it, but complied. I just wanted to get some sleep. I felt dead tired. However, no matter how I tossed and turned in my small portion of the Hermes cabin, my eyes would not stay closed. Eventually I gave up and climbed onto the roof for the rest of the night, staring at the stars. I was confronted by some feathery old hags, but a quick burst of killing intent sent them scurrying away.

I walked around the edge of the lake, ignoring the satyrs and other people running about. My mind simply wasn't content as it rushed about, hyper aware of every single thing that was happening around me. Plus, everything around me was somehow or another bringing back memories of home. Just looking at the lake alone brought back memories of the bell test, my first C-ranked mission, of my first time meeting Pervy Sage, of my lost battle with Sasuke.

I rubbed the left side of my chest, remembering the feeling of pain that flashed through me as he shoved a lightning encompassed fist through my lung. The pain had numbed the feeling when it had actually happened, but after reliving my memories I felt it as vividly as if it had happened yesterday. Even worse, I remembered my promise to Sakura. My promise of a lifetime.

_How far from home am I?_ I wondered, turning my eyes to the sky. _The Kyuubi used some kind of summoning technique to force me here. Hey, wait a second; I just need to ask him._

I grimaced at the thought of going and seeing the fox. I didn't want to visit the fox anytime soon, especially after the stunt he'd pulled to bring me here. I hadn't known what he was going to do. I didn't even know that the Kyuubi knew hand seals. Shaking my head, I turned towards the now slowly rising sun. The campers would be up soon. I turned my grimace into my traditional smile as I headed towards the dinning area.

The rest of the morning turned out fine, and I actually had fun until after lunch. After lunch, the Apollo cabin decided to have sword practice. Since most of the guys in the Hermes cabin were doing their own things, I decided to join them. I figured that we'd have a nice, friendly spar and I be able to get some pointers on how to improve my swordsmanship.

My thoughts on having a 'friendly' spar quickly flew out the window as I overheard some of the conversations they were having. They were talking about Tyson, and how dangerous it was to have a 'monster' in camp. Thing was, Tyson and Percy were no where to be found, so neither could defend him. I've dealt with people saying stuff about me before, but the only time I'd stood up for someone else was when Neji had called Hinata weak and I beat the crap out of him.

_Hm, I suppose that'll have to do for now._ I thought as I glanced at one of the talking groups. To my delight found that one of them was the idiot who'd called Tyson a 'that' like he was some kind of animal at dinner last night. My smile darkened slightly.

I was going to enjoy this.

"Hey you," I shouted, catching his attention. "Spar with me."

His eyes widened in surprise before he shrugged. "Alright, I'm cool with that."

I walked over to a nearby table covered in weapons. While I really wanted to find some kunai, these swords did do their job pretty well. Glancing over them, it didn't take long for me to find one and return to the center of the ring.

We both squared off, facing each other. He stood in a stance with his right arm holding his sword in front of him with his right foot directly in front of his left. I decided to use a more unorthodox form. My legs were shoulder width apart with my right foot only slightly in front of my left, and directly under my body. My sword was parallel to the ground in front and to the right of me, ready to move at a seconds notice.

We stared each other down; him with a look that told me he thought he was superior, while I just scowled in return. Not one to wait for something to happen, I charged forward. He probably didn't expect this as he tried to back up. Tried being the key word.

Without hesitation, I brought my sword around, knocking his sword from his grasp. Spinning around, I slowed myself down as much as possible before my blade touched his neck. He just blinked, looking at his sword-less hand in confusion.

I slowly removed my blade from his throat. "I guess you do have a reason to be scared, you're all talk."

I turned to walk away. Unfortunately Kami, uh, one of the gods, seemed to be conspiring against me, as I heard more people talking a bit louder about Tyson and 'poor Percy'. I was close to just thrashing everyone in the Apollo cabin to see how long it would take for them to stop talking when a voice practically echoed through the training grounds.

"He's not my _real_ brother! He's more like a half-brother on the monstrous side of the family. Like...a half-brother twice removed, or something."

I felt a small chill run down my spine. I knew that voice. Percy had talked a lot last night, so it wasn't hard to recognize. The only problem was that now I wanted to knock Percy's teeth out and make him unrecognizable.

I round on Percy, growling softly as I walked towards him. "Hey Percy."

Percy turned towards me, a pleading look in his eyes turning to one of semi-relief. "Oh, hey Naruto, what's up?"

"What were you talking about?"

Percy seemed to squirm a bit at the question. "Just Tyson."

I nodded. "That's what I thought." I leaned forward a bit. "And what were you saying about him?"

Percy flushed a bit, looking somewhat embarrassed. "Nothing."

My sword leap to his throat catching him by surprise. I growled audibly. "Don't play dumb Percy. You've ready seen what happens when I get frustrated, so talk."

Percy somehow managed to gulp with a blade on his throat. "Well, you see, I'm tired of people talking about me and Tyson. I mean, last year I was the guy who got Zeus's lightning bolt. Now I'm the poor sap who's bunked with a monster."

"I remember you telling me your story. But at least then you didn't sound like a whiney teme."

"A what?" Percy asked, trying to lean away from my sword.

"Teme." I repeated, not sure why he wasn't understanding what I was saying. I was pretty sure we were still speaking the same language. "Besides you're complaining about something very stupid."

Percy moved his head again, this time practically throwing himself backwards to stop my advance. He reaches into his pocket and pulled something out. A second later a sword sprung into his hands, and he took up a defensive position. "What the heck is wrong with you Naruto?"

"I'm still pissed, I didn't get a lot of sleep, and I'm getting reminded of painful experiences." I hissed, slipping into my previous stance. I already knew that none of the things I'd said would make for a good excuse, and would normally have just avoided him and beaten something else up. For a brief second, I considered just walking away.

Of course, Percy just had to add his own two cents in. "What do you care anyway? It's not like Tyson's your brother."

I didn't bother to say anything, or even yell a battle cry as I lunged forward. Percy was caught off guard, but was able to keep up with my attack. Scowling at him, I used the little information I'd gotten from my clones to try to push him back. Twisting my wrist slightly, I turned my single swing into a flurry of wild movement.

For his part, Percy kept his cool as my barrage came towards him. He blocked each one expertly, obviously having experience on his side. That was going to be a problem for me, since I was still learning how to use a sword. Of course, I did have some advantages. Thanks to the fact that I had grown since I'd left to train with Pervy Sage, I was taller, and stronger than Percy was. And with just my brute strength, I could change direction easier and faster making us almost evenly matched.

I brought my blade down in a diagonal slash. Percy once again used the flat of his blade to block my attack and roll out of the way. Despite the fact that I was trying to keep my eyes on Percy, my strange feeling ability was shooting off again. I could feel fear, anger, and even something that could have been pure hate flowing off of one person. That one person was aiming it at me, but the rest of it appeared to be aimed towards Percy. Unable to contain my curiosity, I glanced towards the audience that had somehow gathered while we'd been fighting.

The members of Apollo's cabin were there, having not moved from their area since we began to fight. There were also members of other cabins who had stopped their activities and had come to see what all the commotion was about. Tantalus stood behind the group glaring at me with unconcealed hatred, which explained who was so mad at me. I remembered some of the girls being from Aphrodite's cabin, a group of guys from Ares, and even a few others from the other tables. One of the other people who caught my eye though, was Annabeth.

Unlike the rest of them, there was no negative emotion rolling from her. She looked simply curious as to what was going on. There was talking throughout the group, and bets being made, but she said nothing. She just watched, intrigued by something.

While all of this observation happened in a few seconds, it gave Percy enough time to retaliate. With a roaring battle cry, he leapt forward on the attack. If it hadn't had been for his battle cry, I probably wouldn't have realized he was attacking me until it was too late.

I didn't step back like I suppose he thought I would. Instead, I brought my sword up to clash with his, putting us into a kind of blade-lock. We stared at each other for one brief second before Percy suddenly shifted his weight. I barely caught on before he twisted his blade, and in turn, my blade. My hand was suddenly twisted at an odd angle, and it looked like Percy was planning on bringing my own blade back around to my neck. Thankfully, I'm both unpredictable, and predictable. After all, I'm only human, and the pain in my wrist really hurt. So I let go of my sword.

Percy's eyes practically bulged out as his maneuver suddenly went wide, my sword flying off, and his own shooting outwards. He was now completely defenseless, and I was unarmed. That had never stopped me before though.

I stepped forward, closing the distance between myself and Percy. He'd been trying to keep a bit of distance between us, probably because of my size. With the training I'd been through though, it was not a difficult task to get within an inch of his face. My left arm lashed out, grabbing his sword-wielding forearm to hold it in place. With this kind of distance and my grip, Percy wouldn't be able to swing his sword.

I drew back my free fist and slammed it into his gut. He sputtered out, doubling over and falling to his knees. His sword now lay forgotten next to him, released the moment I hit him. Not entirely done humiliating him, I put my hand on his shoulder and used his back as a ramp to roll over his shoulder and get behind him.

Looking past him, I realized that somehow, we'd brought our fight near the lake, and I was lined up with Percy directly towards the lake. A memory flashed through my mind from earlier as I remembered one of the most painful, and by far the most humiliating thing I'd ever had happen to me.

_Oh the irony_. I thought, as my fingers formed into a seal.

"The Leaf's Secret Technique: A Thousand Years of Pain!" I shouted as my fingers rocketed forward, jabbing him in his hindquarters. Mentally, I winced. _Or as some have called it, the Super Painful Butt Poke._

Percy never had a chance. Within a second, he was flying through the air. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite as graceful as mine had been. I'd just grabbed my butt as I flew through the air crying out in pain. Percy didn't have the luxury of grabbing anything as he flailed about, twisting about for a moment before finally falling into the lake.

I brushed myself off in a nonchalant fashion, mentally wincing with every move I made. Percy may have been a whiney teme, but he was definitely skilled enough that I was going to feel the pain in my arm and back for the rest of the day. While I didn't let it show to the campers, I was exhausted. Physically, mentally, and probably emotionally too.

_Okay, note to self; learn how to use a sword and not feel tired._ I mentally mumbled as I turned to walk away. Before I could though, I was mobbed by several of the campers.

"Dude, that was awesome! You totally put Percy in his place!"

"Yeah man, that was definitely cool. You're alright by me."

"Man, I wish I had a camera. I would have loved to show dad Percy's face as he flew off."

"If you ever need someone to help you in a fight, just remember that us guys have got your back."

I nodded slowly. Looking between each of them, I noticed a similar ruggedness in all of them, like they were just waiting for someone to ask them to fight so they could jump in. Thinking back on what I'd learned, I figured that they were all probably members of Ares cabin, the god of war, and Percy's god enemy.

"Uh, thanks guys." I said, rubbing the back of my neck. I didn't really feel like getting thanked, the reality of what had just happened finally sinking in. I'd just sent one of the only people I'd made friends with into the lake viva Thousand Years of Pain. He probably did deserve it, but then it would have been better to do it privately.

I blinked in confusion. _Where the heck are all these logical thoughts coming from? Any other day of the week, I'd kick someone's ass, and brush it off like nothing happened. But now…I'm feeling _sorry_ for humiliating him? What is wrong with me?_

I felt a cold hand suddenly place itself on my shoulder. I glanced up, trying not to glare at Tantalus' grinning face. "Well now, that was quite the trick you did there. Mind explaining it to everyone?"

I shrugged. "I suppose I could. But I'd need someone to volunteer for me to demonstrate again. I'm sure that _you'd_ be more than willing."

Tantalus growled at me, leaning next to my ear. "Listen here _boy_. You obviously do not understand the amount of weight I carry in this camp at this time. However, if you do not begin to show me some amount of respect and follow the rules, I'm going to file for you to be kicked out of camp immediately. Are we clear?"

"Oh? And what rules have I broken?" I asked smugly.

Tantalus chuckled evilly in my ear. "Oh, I suppose you didn't break any rules, per say. However, you did assault one of the Big Three's children. So I think I'll just wait and see how this turns out."

Tantalus grinned as he leaned back and walked away. Unable to help myself, I shouted at his retreating form. "Hey, next time you wanna talk just remember; breath mints are your friends!"

Everyone around me chuckled, while the Ares boys roared in laughter. They patted me on the back, nearly knocking me over from the simple force they had. Now that I thought about it, Percy's enemy or not, Ares' kids would be good to have backing me up in a fight.

Noticing a perfectly dry Percy walking out of the lake, I said a quick farewell as I made my way into the forest. If Percy wanted to talk, I'd let him talk. However, I was going to make it on my terms, and in an area that would be most comfortable to me.

* * *

I sat in the middle of a small clearing, waiting for Percy to show up. Surprisingly, he hadn't run into the forest like I thought he would. I'd been waiting for at least ten minutes, and he still hadn't shown up. Twitching in apprehension I began to pace the clearing.

I knew I'd probably over reacted to what Percy had said, but I couldn't help it. My youth had been lived alone, wanting to play with the other kids, but never really getting that close companionship with any of them. They probably knew more about me than I did about them, and that was only because I pulled pranks to get attention.

The adults hadn't been better, but I suppose they could have been worse. Their looks and words were more than damaging enough for me to realize that I wasn't wanted there. It reminded me how close I'd come to hating them, to despising them, to wanting nothing more than to watch the village burn. That was before Iruka came and saved me, and my life continued to change from there.

Tyson reminded me of how I was before and am now. Kind simply because we can be, amazed by everything we see, wanting nothing more than to protect those around us and see them happy. At times though, I'd already seen his eye filled with so much sadness, I can't help but wonder why no one bothers to help him. He is a good person, even if he has quirks that make him seem different.

A snapping branch drew me from my thoughts of Tyson. I turned towards the approaching person, only to find it wasn't Percy. I raised an eyebrow at them in surprise. "Annabeth, what are you doing here?"

Annabeth looked at me, something between a glare and an inquisitive look on her face as she walked out of the forest. "I followed you."

"Okay. Why are you here?" I responded. I had wanted to speak with Percy, not with her. So where was Percy?

"I wanted to talk to you alone." she said as she walked into the clearing. "I told Percy to stay at the training grounds while I came here."

"Well, that explains why he didn't follow me." I muttered. Shaking my head, I looked at Annabeth. "I wanted to talk to Percy, but I suppose you'll do. So, you have some questions?"

Annabeth nodded. "Why did you do that?"

"You mean beat the crap out of Percy?" I shrugged. "He was being an idiot. Besides, that's how we deal with things where I come from. We beat the crap out of each other, and then used what we learned to become friends. Funny thing is that it actually works almost every time."

Annabeth shook her head. "What sort of place is that even legal to do stiff like that?"

"The village hidden in the leaves."

I felt a pang of uneasiness as she looked thoughtfully at the ground. "I've never heard of it, do you know where it is?"

"In the land of fire."

"I've never heard of those places."

The fact that she didn't know about my village or land it was in was not comforting.

"Yeah well, that's where I'm from." I said as easily as I could, trying not to let my confusion and fear show through.

Apparently I did a good enough job, since Annabeth moved on with a shrug. "Alright, if you say so. But that wasn't what I meant by my question."

I sat down on a stump, looking up at her curiously. "Then what did you mean?"

"I want to know why you defended the Cyclop - Tyson." she said.

I didn't miss the change in her words. "What do you people have against him? What has he done to possibly make you hate him like this?"

She bit her lip as she looked away. "I don't hate him. I just -"

"Right, and that little spike of anger wasn't directed at Tyson at all." I said sarcastically.

She looked at me owlishly. "What?"

I shook my head. "Never mind. What were you going to say?"

She looked like she was going to argue for a second, before thinking better if it. "Well, it's not that I don't like Tyson. I just don't trust him."

"And why don't you? Has he given you reason to mistrust him?" I asked.

Annabeth shuffled her feet nervously. "Well, Tyson hasn't done anything, but I haven't had good experiences with Cyclopes in general. Most of them are like how Tantalus described."

My eyes narrowed at that. "So you're basing his actions on what the rest of his people are like? You're not even going to let him have a chance first?"

Annabeth glared back at me. "Well unlike you, I for one have had a bad experience with a Cyclops. So what gives you any right to think that there's any other Cyclops that's like him?"

I shrugged, all the anger rushing out of me. I was feeling the fatigue eat away at me, a having a long argument was not on my to-do list. "Because a Cyclops, especially a young Cyclops, just as innocent as any human would be. Sure the others could be spiteful and mean, but that doesn't mean they all are." I growled out. After a moment, I sighed and stood up. "Besides, you aren't the only one with previous bad experiences with Cyclopes."

Annabeth's eyes widened. "What do you mean by that?"

I shook my head, turning to walk away. "It's a good story, but it'll have to wait until later. I'm gonna try and get some sleep before - "

The dinner conch suddenly blasted out. I cursed under my breath as I glanced back at Annabeth. "Another time. Now, time for food."

I left the clearing in a hurry, leaving a particularly confused a trouble feeling Annabeth to her thoughts.

* * *

Despite the bad feelings that were obviously between Percy and I die to my previous stunt at the lake, I still sat at Poseidon's table. It wasn't so me and him could make up either. It was for Tyson. I knew that Tyson thought the world of Percy, and really enjoyed me being around. He was a good guy, and I didn't want to hurt him.

Before dinner began, Percy leaned over to me. "Hey Naruto. Why did you do that to me earlier?"

I glanced at him, noticing him wince as he tried to adjust himself. "It still hurts?"

Percy nodded , wincing again as he leaned back a bit. "What was it for? I mean, what did I do to anger you like that?"

I glanced towards Tyson, trying to pick my words carefully. "You said something about a friend of mine that I didn't like. Everyone else deals with being half-siblings here just fine."

"Yeah, but their siblings aren't half monster." be mumbled under his breath.

I winced as I noticed Tyson's pained expression. Appearently Percy wasn't quite as quiet as I'd hoped he'd be, and he'd overheard us and had a good guess at what Percy meant. "Hey Tyson, it's cool man."

Tyson looked down at the table, messing around with something in his hands. "I'm sorry I'm a monster." he muttered.

"Don't say that. You are not a monster. You are my friend, and that's all that matters to me." I said, grinning as widely as I could. "Let them think what they want, you'll show them wrong."

Tyson nodded. "You're right. I'll be a good monster."

I resisted the urge to chuckle at how he interpreted what I'd said. "Sure, a good monster. Whatever you want to be Tyson."

That didn't seem to comfort Percy, though the smile that Tyson had was worth his pain.

After dinner and all the other fun after dinner activities, we retired to our cabins. Well, everyone else retired. I stayed on the roof of Hermes cabin, staring at the stars again. Not wanting to personally deal with the hag again, created a single shadow clone to watch out for them. It took me a moment to make the single clone; somehow my clones kept looking like one of the sickly ones I used to make when I used the normal clone technique the first time I tried it. It actually took me about three times before it was good enough to perform what I needed it to do.

Laying on the roof, I decided to just talk to my clone. "Nice night."

My clone nodded, looking around the buildings. "It never seemed this quiet at home. It makes me uneasy."

I nodded. "Yeah, but there's not much we can do about that though."

"We could prank the cabins," my clone suggested, an impish grin on his face. "It would be like old times."

I chuckled. "It would be. Then again, we had supplies we could use, plus our targets usually deserved it. If we had the supplies though, I would definitely prank Tantalus like no one else has been pranked before."

My clone sighed. "I know but I wanna do something _now_. Waiting around is boring!"

I shrugged. "Maybe we'll start something later. Right now I'm trying to sleep."

"Really now?"

"Yes really." I muttered, my eyes slowly closing.

"I bet I know how I can keep you up." my clone said.

I glanced at him, somewhat curious as to what my clone was thinking. "And what might that be?"

The impish grin seemed to grow on his face, making me all the more nervous about what he was going to say. "You know how the Shadow Clone Jutsu is now more solid?"

"Yeah? Why, what are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that you're going to think of the other techniques we know and wonder just how they've changed."

I shook my head. _Well, now that he mentions it, my arsenal of jutsu isn't that big. I know a few sealing jutsu's, the Rasengan, and the summoning technique thanks to Pervy Sage. I learned the Shadow Clone and the Mass Shadow Clone Jutsu from the Scroll of Sealing. Then there's the Academy taught jutsu's like he Transformation and Substitution Jutsu. So what is he talking...wait. I do know one other jutsu._

My face was a bright red as I glared daggers at my laughing clone. "When did I get so evil?"

My clone shrugged, chuckling at my expression. "I guess it's just something you've been wondering about in the back of your mind."

I stuck my tongue out at him childishly. It felt good to act out a bit. I wasn't meant for overly serious situations twenty-four seven. Even if I was acting childishly with myself. And now I was curious about why I didn't think of that before. I glanced at my clone to speak again, when I noticed his face had turned to my combat face. All joking was gone as his eyes focused on something.

"What's up?" I asked, pushing myself into a reclined position.

"What's that?" my clone asked, pointing towards the Big House.

I pushed myself all the way up, looking towards where my clone was pointing. In the top window of the Big House, the curtain was pulled back, and a figure was casting a shadow against the window. I stared at the shadow for a moment before a sudden feeling swept over me. The very familiar sensation of chakra was coming from the top floor, and whoever was making that shadow was causing it.

"I know boss, I'll stay here." my clone muttered, within down with a dejected look on his face.

I smiled apologetically. "I'll be back in a bit. I promise."

"Just make sure you fill me in!" my clone shouted after me as I jumped off the roof and slipped towards the Big House.

For the first time in a long time I was glad we'd had to take all those stealth lessons back in the Academy. Opening the door, I quietly moved inside. No one was around as far as I could see, and I couldn't feel anyone other than the chakra in the upper room. Applying some chakra to my feet and fingers, I crawled up the wall to check the next flight of stairs.

Once again, it was all clear. Not a soul appeared to be in the Big House. Flipping over the rail, I moved through the rooms, looking for the next flint of stairs. None of the rooms appeared to lead to another room, and I was beginning to get a bit frustrated. _Where are you stairs?_

Suddenly, there was a near silent creaking noise. To me though, it seemed as loud as someone casually opening a squeaky door. I whirled around, noticing a slight movement from the ceiling. After moving closer to inspect it, I noticed a small ring protruding from a square indentation in the ceiling. Reaching up, I slowly pulled down on the ring to reveal the stairs I'd been looking for.

I paused for a second. It was too easy. No one in the house, and the stairs to the attic had somehow stone unnoticed until a sound alerted me to where they were at? It just didn't seem like a normal occurrence. "I have a bad feeling about this."

My curiosity got the better of me, overcoming my sense of anticipation, and fear. Taking slow, deliberate steps, I made my way up the stairs. With every step I took I felt the chakra, and my apprehension, grow.

As I got to the top of the steps, I glanced around. There was all kinds of objects strewn about, ranging from broken swords to scarf's. My eyes scanned all the different objects, eventually landing on one that seemed to stand out because it wasn't set on a stand or displayed in any way. Instead, it was almost buried underneath several other objects.

It was a claw of some sort. I moved some of the other objects off of it and picked it up, turning it over in my hands. It was rather large and heavy, and had almost a rustic look to it, like it had been up here for a long time. Underneath it was a small card that had writing on it. I picked it up, trying to read what it said. Once again, the handy skill I'd had for understanding this coded writing was escaping me. I stared harder, wanting to know what it said.

Slowly, the words began to move. It was like they were objects in the water, slowly floating into place. It took almost two minutes for them to finish falling into place, but they eventually did.

_Luke Castellan  
__Taken from the dragon Ladon after it scared my face._

I frowned at the name. There was no one that I'd heard of named Luke. Then again, I didn't really know many people at camp yet. I ran my fingers over the words, wondering who it was.

Suddenly, I felt a surge of emotion rush through me. Pain, anguish, frustration, and…hatred. Pure hatred. I dropped the paper, looking at it in confusion. I glanced at the claw in my hand, wondering if it had any surprises for me as well. There was definitely something screwed up going on, and a part of me wanted to know what.

Deciding it wasn't worth it, I placed it gently back down in front of the paper. I shivered as the feelings lingered on my hands. I tried to shake the feeling, but it seemed to linger in the air around me.

I was so focused on the negative feeling in the air, I almost forgot what I'd come to do. A rattling noise from behind me managed to bring me back though, making me whirl around. Behind me were the different piles of items, none of them seemed to have been moved in any which way except for a skeleton in really strange clothing. My eyes darted about, trying to find the disturbance. A second later though, the strangest thing happened.

The skeleton moved.

My jaw nearly hit the floor as I stared at the skeleton. "Did-did you just move?"

The skeleton didn't bother answering as it took another step forward. A green mist seeped out of its mouth, slowly filling the room. I backed away slowly as the mist approached me, the chakra in the air practically moldable. It was making me nervous as the mist came within inches of touching me.

Then I ran out of room, backing into the wall. The stairs were on the other side of the room, and the skeleton was between me and them, cutting off any escape. I growled at the skeleton, barely noticing the mist finally reaching me.

The moment it touched me, the mist violently began to change. Instead of being green, it changed into a bright orange color that formed itself into the form of multiple snakes. I scowled at the snakes. Somehow, snakes managed to make their way into my life more and more, and I was really getting sick and tired of how they kept popping up.

The skeleton stepped forward, its eyes were glowing a bright green glow, the mist still coming out in a long stream orange stream. Then, a voice began speaking in my head, scaring the living daylights out of me.

_A warrior of a forgotten land  
__Returns, though forced by another's hand.  
__Struggling against the Fate's and the odds,  
__He'll seek the favor of the gods.  
__Children of the Three he'll call,  
__Least the land of Olympus should fall.  
__Wielding a blade of promise and light,  
__He will lead Halflings and monsters through the coming fight.  
__Then at the day when the fighting ends,  
__He must make the choice; his home or his friends._

The mist slowly receded back into the skeleton's mouth, the light fading from its eyes. It seemed to sigh for a second, before walking back to an empty place and settling itself down. After settling in, its entire body seemed to shudder, as though what it had just said had been painful to say, and it wanted nothing more than to be left alone. I decided that this was far to creepy for me. I took off like I was being chased by a stamped of bulls, vacating the room faster than I thought I could move.

Needless to say, I did get sleep that night either.

**

* * *

**

AN: Well now, wasn't that interesting. Yes, Naruto did just use the Thousand Years of Pain on Percy. In Naruto's defense, Percy deserved that in this part of the Second Book, constanly whining about his half-brother. It was insulting to the other cabins who are filled with half-siblings. Also, I think I might have butchered the Annabeth scene, but the scene itself was there for a reason. As for what that reason is, you'll have to wait and see.

Plus a new prophecy...what am I up to? Changing the dynamic of PJO? Possibly. But then again, you'll _still_ have to keep reading to find out the answers, since only I know it all for now.

**Also, despite the fact that PJO is **_**filled**_** with gods, and god-moding is something to be laughed at due to them, I'm not going to overpower Naruto. This isn't his turf, and there are a few new rules that he's having to adjust too. That's why Naruto had a hard time beating Percy; in his world, he'd have beaten him faster than Gai on speed (shudders at the thought). You've probably noticed a few of his new weaknesses already, but it'll be a while before my viewers and Naruto get someone to explain it to you. So keep reading, and most of your questions should be answered…eventually.**

**Skipping how the pairings are going for now, it's time for some information that is relative, but probably won't matter in the great scheme of things!**

**Today's info: Everyone in the PJO universe has chakra. There are some differences, but it's still there. Even the monster have chakra, although theirs is different enough for me not to say more.**

**Also, for all my faithful reviewers! A new subject I wish to bring up. Guest gods. I'm pretty much going to have all of the thirteen major gods show up at one point or another, but is there any minor god that you think Naruto should have any interactions with? If you think of any, review and explain in detail why Naruto should meet them and what their ulterior motive is (if they have one).**

**Thanks for reading! I hope to enjoy the reviews you all leave.**


	8. My Curiousity Nearly Kills Me

Chapter 7: My Curiousity Nearly Kills Me

* * *

After discussing what had happened in the Big House with my clone, I decided it would probably be best to not tell anyone. Thank goodness my Shadow Clone was able to think so well. There was a lot stuff that we came up with throughout the night, and even the next day.

I went through the different activities, doing my best to avoid the people from yesterday. Life was becoming more and more complicated for me, and with them asking questions I didn't know the answers too would do anything but make things easier. Even though Percy basically forgave me for the incident from two days ago, but even so, he had just as many questions for me as anyone else. Like how I'd been able to send him flying so far. Why was it that all of my regular physical attributes were somehow extraordinary to them?

Then there were the strange nightmares that came that night after I finally fell asleep; of my village, and weird occurrences. I suppose they could happen, but they were all so strange, I couldn't help but question my sanity for dreaming them. After all, a funeral for me, Tsunade hugging Pervy Sage while lightly beating his chest, and Hinata crying over my empty casket? Even for me, that felt a bit far fetched. Although, the empty look in a lot of the villagers eyes was what really made it a nightmare. It was like they actually believed in me; that my promise to bring back Sasuke had been made to all of them and I'd failed them all.

I mumbled curses under my breath as I woke up for the fifth time. It didn't make any sense to stay asleep anymore, seeing as the sun was coming up. I groaned softly. "Stupid brain. Why won't it cut me a break?"

"Bad dreams Boss?"

I glanced at my Shadow Clone, memories of the day before returning slowly. All of yesterday, I'd snuck into the forest to see just how versatile my clones were. After a bit of experimenting, I found that my spars felt far more physically draining than they had before, along with an unusually large chakra drain. I only practiced the Shadow Clone Jutsu, and found myself almost so worn out that I couldn't sleep. The main problem was that I could actually feel the drain on my chakra; something that made no sense to me. I never really could how my techniques were effecting my chakra before. Not only that, but chakra levels reminded me of when I had just barely become an Academy student. I had gained a lot more chakra during my Academy chakra perception excersises, chakra control training, and even more while training with Pervy Sage. Having so little chakra made me feel far weaker normal, even if it was still just higher than most of the here. Of course, they were the children of gods. I expected them to be strong.

I shook my head, trying to shake the thoughts from my head. "A nightmare." I whispered, my mind returning to the dreams of the night before.

My clone nodded. "I don't need to understand. Why do you think we're having these dreams though?"

I sighed. "I don't know. Why am I dreaming of home? Is it some kind of premonition, or am I just going crazy?"

My clone patted me on the back. "It's okay Boss. We'll figure it out eventually. Until then, I think we should head to breakfast."

A loud conch blast echoed through the camp, making me groan in frustration. "Why in Kami's name do I have to go and work out with everyone when I barely got any sleep last night?"

"Ah, the joys of youth." My clone said with a far off look in his eyes.

I froze, slowly turning to my clone. "Are you thinking of Bushy Brow?" My clone nodded, and I couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Man, I haven't thought about him in forever. It really feels like it's been a long time huh?"

"It feels like longer." My clone said. Then, he suddenly stood up. "Come my most youthful friend! We must go forth now, and prepare our Springtime of Youth! For the coming dawn has inspired me, and now you may join me in my most youthful workout! I will do one hundred laps around the camp, and if I can't do that consistently I will do five hundred push-ups, and if I can't do that –"

"Alright, I get it!" I said, unable to help flat out laughing at my clone's rendition of Gai and Lee's loud proclamations of what they'd do to make up for doing their workouts, as scary as that was. I sat up, looking across the field of the camp as the campers began to file out of their respective cabins and make their way towards the dinning pavilion. I sighed, moving to push myself up.

"Allow me to help you my most youthful of friends!"

I was suddenly yanked up from behind by my armpits by my clone. I growled, whirling around to yell at my clone. However, my voice caught in my throat as I looked over the appearance that my clone had taken. Somehow, in the moment between sitting up and facing him, he'd managed to use a Transformation Jutsu to make his clothes look like the green jumpsuit that Gai and Lee used to wear.

A bright twinkle flashed in my clone's teeth as he assumed the 'nice guy' pose. "What do you think? I look pretty good huh?"

"Oh yeah, you look like a real champion." I said, really giving him a good look over. After a couple seconds, I sighed. "However, seeing it on me, I realize that as good as I look in green, too much might be bad. If the Aphrodite girls saw you, they'd have a meltdown, and rip your clothes off to get rid of that monstrosity."

My clone wiggled his eyebrows. "And that's a bad thing?"

I threw my head back and laughed rather loudly at that. "Just dispel yourself. I'm going to go eat now, and I don't need you causing another commotion."

With a sigh and a half hearted salute, my clone dispelled itself. I closed my eyes as the clones memories slowly filtered into my mind. It was interesting to watch myself sleep. I had no idea that I mumbled, or that I kicked in my sleep. Of course, it was pretty useless information, so I didn't dwell on it too much. The only thing that I did dwell on was when I felt a bit more exhausted, like my clones exhaustion came with its memories.

I rubbed the back of my head in exasperation. My Shadow Clones were proving to be far more of a hindrance here than I had originally believed. I remember all the other times I'd recklessly thrown my chakra about and made hundreds of clones. Obviously the Transformation Jutsu was fine, seeing as my clone used it pretty well. So why was it that my Shadow Clones were acting so strange?

"Hey Naruto!"

I glanced down from the roof of the cabin. Beneath me was Annabeth, staring up at me. I smiled my traditional fox-like smile. "Hey Annabeth, what's up?"

Annabeth shook her head. "You! Now get down here you lazy blonde! You're going to miss breakfast!"

I shrugged. "Alright, but it's not like there's going to be anything important going on today."

I jumped down, landing in an animalistic crouch just barely in front of Annabeth. Annabeth jumped back, obviously startled by how I'd just jumped down in front of her. "Don't do that you idiot! You could seriously hurt yourself."

"Yeah right." I muttered, picking myself up and walking towards the dinning pavilion. As I walked, I tried to ignored the soreness that came from my knees as I moved. It was only a bit over a one story drop, but for some reason it was far more painful than I ever remembered it normally being. Maybe it was just all that working out that I'd been doing.

"Hey wait up." Annabeth shouted as she jogged up besides me. I could tell that something was eating at her, but I decided to wait for her to speak first. After a moment of silently moving forward, she finally spoke up. "You do remember what today is, right?"

"Uh, no?" I said, scratching the back of my head.

Annabeth just shook her head. "It's the day of the chariot races. Everyone is going to be at the races after breakfast. How do you forget something like that?"

"I just don't care." I said nonchalantly. "I mean, it's a chariot race that was instituted by Tantalus. Why should I care about something like that?"

Annabeth looked shocked by that. "Why shouldn't you care? It's a really fun sport! Plus, no chores to do for a whole month!"

I shrugged. "The chores aren't that bad. I mean, I used to do similar of stuff with just me and two other people. Though back then, we actually got paid to do it." I pouted as I looked towards the sky. "It's the same thing every day here! I want to go out and do stuff! I want to see some of the world here, to do missions like what the heroes Percy talked about do. Is that too much to ask?"

Annabeth shrugged. "We don't really get to choose what happens. If there's something we need, the Oracle tells us what we have to do. Otherwise, the gods may send us out to do things that they can't do in their spare time."

I deadpanned at that. "So, we're glorified delivery boys?"

"Basically."

"Shimatta.*****" I muttered under my breath.

Annabeth gave me a funny look. I'm sure she wanted to say something, we were at the dinning pavilion now, and I was hungry. Leaving her to her thoughts, I moved over to the food table and began to piling food onto my plate. It was awesome that there was really no limit to how much we could take, and I took full advantage of that.

Instead of sitting with Percy, like I'd done on the first days, I just stood and ate off to the side. While I didn't want any more questions from anyone for the time being, I had another reason for not joining Percy and Tyson at their table. Namely, I didn't want to have anyone else get into trouble for what was going to happen later.

See, Tantalus had finally gone too far in how thoughtlessly he'd been doing things, and I'd had enough. It was one thing to put people's lives in danger, which was sometimes needed for people to extend themselves and truly show their abilities. It was another to show favoritism to one group of people because of the merits of one, while disregarding others with abilities that were better than the others of that group.

As such, I was deciding to retaliate. I didn't need anyone else to help me; especially since my Shadow Clone's were more than enough to help me set up and deliver a humiliating prank. And if I was right, it would be one that would last for a long time. I had to stop my self from chuckling evilly as I imagined how he'd react.

He was going to be very, very mad.

"Alright everyone, your attention please." Tantalus said, looking longingly at the food before turning his attention back to us. "As you know, the chariot races will once again begin once again today! Your usual lessons will be skipped, as we will head out to the racetrack that has been so kindly made by the Colchis bulls, under the supervision of the Hephaestus cabin."

Several members of the Hephaestus cabin stood up, waving in acknowledgement as a few people applauded them. They looked rather proud of themselves, and admittedly, it was pretty cool. It was things like this that deserved more recognition.

Tantalus looked away with a look and feeling indifference to them. "As you know, it will be a most enjoyable event, with a fabulous prize. We will meet at the track in a half hour. Just enough time to bring out your chariots and horses and set yourselves up at the track line."

Tantalus leaned over, trying to nonchalantly snatch something I'd been told was called a 'waffle', but the waffle jumped away before he could reach it. I chuckled at his misfortune, as he barked for the satyrs to follow him to the track.

Everyone began to file back to the track, or wherever they'd placed their chariots, leaving me to myself in the dinning pavilion.

"Huh, that was oddly easy." I muttered, forming two clones, preparing to get the required materials from the storage room behind the Big House that I had stumbled upon during my training.

I waited for my clones to leave before I began my own move. Walking in a deliberately slow manner so that I would go mostly unnoticed by the other campers. I was headed towards the cabins just like they were, but my objective was to find my training grounds and working on figuring out what the issue was with my clones. Besides that I really didn't care about the chariot races; I had other things to work on. And I probably would have made it if I hadn't been distracted.

The object that distracted me was a small black box sitting on one of the tables. By itself, it wouldn't have caught my attention, but the strange sound coming from the wire that was attached to it did. Unable to resist my curiosity, I walked over and picked the box up.

It was unremarkable for the most part. It was made of a material that would probably break in a fight, and even had an indentation where it was probably weakest. In the indentation, words slowly scrolled across a sliver of glass. I wasn't sure how that was possible, but I decided that I was more interested in the sound coming from the wires.

I inspected the wires carefully, looking for the source of the noise. As I did, I noticed that the wire split partway down, and ended in a pair of funny objects. Picking up the objects, I grinned as I'd found the source of the noise. Figuring that the objects were meant to hear the sound somehow, I placed one by each ear, listening intently.

"...it might sound crazy but it ain't no lie, baby, bye bye bye..."

I stared off into space as I listened to the strange noise. If I didn't know any better, I'd say it was music. That couldn't be though; there wasn't an instrument that made some of the noises I was hearing. So I continued listening, trying to understand what I was hearing.

"What are you doing with my MP3 player?" someone suddenly cried out.

Unsure of what was happening, I turned around. Clarisse stood here, looking livid as she glared daggers at me. Her eyes darted between me and the box, the MP3 player I guessed. Her lips curled into a snarl as she slowly took a step forward.

"What did you hear?" she asked in a none-to-friendly manner.

I blinked, slowly putting the objects I'd been holding on the table. If she was going to try and attack me, I wanted to be ready. I've dealt with Sakura's punches, but she never looked like she was going to kill me like Clarisse did.

"What did you hear?" Clarisse asked again, taking another deliberate step forward.

I shrugged, trying to cover my nervousness by acting nonchalant. "Nothing important. There's just some weird music."

Obviously this was not the right thing to say as she hissed sharply. "I can't believe this."

"Believe what?" I asked, tilting my head curiously.

Clarisse glared at me, really doing her best to intimidate me. "You cannot tell anyone I listen to N'Sync. Do you know how bad that'll be for me?"

"Who?"

Clarisse practically recoiled at my question, her glare vanishing in an instant. "Wh-what?"

"Who's N'Sync?"

Clarisse's mouth moved without a noise leaving it for a moment. I guess this N'Sync was a pretty big deal here, though why there were was a mystery to me. I mean, they weren't bad, but it was really weird stuff. I mean, what the heck were they singing about in the first place? The lyrics made no sense.

"Look." she said, trying to relax as she spoke, though she looked uncomfortable and nervous. "Can you just, not tell anyone? It's not really my style, and I don't want anyone to know I like them. It would look bad."

I shrugged. "Sure."

"Promise me." she demanded, looking tense again.

"I promise. And I never go back on my word."

She gave me a funny look, but seemed to accept my promise. She scooped up the box and wire and shove them into her pocket, walking off. A second later, she slapped her head and ran back. "Naruto, can you do something for me?"

"Uh, okay?" I said, feeling more than a little confused. What was wrong with the girls here? Did they have some kind of attention deficiency or something?

_Wait, don't all Halflings have something like that? What was it called? Oh yeah, Attention Deficit...Hyperactive Disorder. Oh, now it makes sense. Then again, all the girls I know are crazy like that. Maybe I'm just imaging things._ I thought, accidentally ignoring Clarisse.

Clarisse scowled and smacked me upside the head. "Hey, did you hear what I said?"

I scratched my cheek nervously. "Uh, no?"

Clarisse shook her head. "Idiot. I asked if you would take over guarding the tree for a bit. Kevin is guarding it right now, and he's one of he few people who are stronger than me in the Ares cabin. And while I want the camp to be safe," a fire seemed to blaze in her eyes as she stared at me. "I want to win the chariot race."

A thought popped up in my head a moment before I refused. I mulled it over for a second, before shrugging. "Okay."

"Good." Clarisse said, looking far brighter than a moment before. "Go get your stuff and tell Kevin to get his butt to the track. We've got a race to win."

I watched her leave, smirking at her retreating form. Without realizing it, Clarisse had given me something I hadn't thought of until she offered me guard duty. She'd given me an alibi. After all, no one here could be in two places at once.

Thankfully, my Shadow Clones would be more than capable of handling the set up.

* * *

I glared at the sky as I sat cross-legged next to the tree. As good as it was to have an alibi, and how important it was for me to personally watch over the tree as my clone prepared out surprise, I quickly found that there was something that was a bit of a nuisance. It was both hit and humid here. I could handle the heat; it was always hot in the Land of Fire. It was the humidity that was killing me.

Groaning in complaint, I stared back across the field. There was a couple of metal beasts that would drive by, but for the most part everything was quiet. I leaked back against the tree, avoiding the ooze coming from the tree. With a sigh, I closed my eyes, trying to get into a more relaxed state of mind to help with the heat.

A moment after my eyes closed they snapped back open. I was somehow no longer sitting outside the tree, watching the field. Instead, I was in some sort of shadowed area. I felt a little bit of vertigo as I lost my orientation and began to spin around. Apparently, gravity was playing tricks on me, because I suddenly felt weighed down and weightless.

Disoriented and confused, I tried to stop my spinning. Flailing about, I tried to focus on everything around me. There wasn't much to see, and I had a feeling of dread fill me. I had been here before, not to long ago. I'd somehow returned to limbo.

Still twisting about, I glanced over my shoulder to see if there was anything behind myself to use to get out. The only thing I saw was a tree with something tied to it. No, not something. _Someone._

"Hey!" I shouted, trying to focus on the tree despite my spinning.

There was no response from the person strapped to the tree. Unsure of what to do I tried to see if I could 'swim' though the darkness. I found myself rewarded as instead of spinning, I was now floating forward.

Kicking with my feet, I navigated my way to the tree. "Hey! Are you alright?"

There was a stirring movement from the person, and a soft moan of pain. "Who...who's there?"

Waving my arms in front of me to slow myself down, I pulled up next to the tree. "The name's Naruto. Who are you?" Taking a closer look, I realized it was a girl dressed in black clothing with dark hair and a pale face. "And what happened to you?"

"It hurts..." she whispered, her eyes clenched lightly like she'd just been exposed to a bright light after being in the dark. Her expression turned into one of immense pain as she opened her mouth in a silent scream. After a moment, she returned to normal. "It hurts..."

"How can I help?" I asked, looking her and the tree over expectantly. The tree looked similar to the one I had been guarding, but was less yellow than the actual tree was. The girl on the other hand was pale, obviously sick from something.

"It hurts..."

"You already said that." I muttered as I examined her. I didn't really know what to do with her; I've rarely been sick. And whenever I was, the Old Man would only be able to do so much. I did remember him putting a hand on my forehead and telling me I felt warm and to get some rest. With a shrug, I put my hand on her forehead.

A wave of pain suddenly shit through me, nearly knocking me out as it reached near unbearable levels. I only managed to stay awake through sheer force of will, similar to when I'd had a fist rammed through my lung by Sasuke.

After a moment, the girl's eyes opened and a peaceful expression on her face. She glanced up at me, noticing me for the first time. "What the, who are you?"

"Naruto...ugh, Uzumaki." I grunted, trying to fight out the pain.

"Okay, and what are you doing?" she asked, her eyes glancing up at my hand which was still on her head.

"Sorry." I said, taking my hand off of her head. She didn't look like she was in pain, which was a relief, all things considering. I wanted some answers dang it. "Who are you?"

"Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus." she said with a proud look in her eyes.

I nodded absentmindedly, still numb from the pain. It actually took a moment for that to sink in. "Wait what?"

"I said my name is Thalia -"

"Not that part, I got that. What I don't get is how I'm talking to you." I said probably looking panicked as I realized what I was doing. Somehow, I was talking to the girl who had been trapped in a tree.

"I don't know." Thalia said, doing her best to shrug despite the bindings. "Last thing I remember before the pain hit was -"

She was cut off as her face contorted into one of pain again. Not missing a beat, my hand was once again on her forehead. I felt the pain washed over me again, but now I was ready for it. I didn't flinch as I turned my gaze towards her. "Go on."

"What's going on?" Thalia asked, looking at me with a look of shock.

"I don't know, but please talk fast." I whispered through gritted teeth. Despite my own resolve, I could tell that a long time of trying to hold back the pain would be difficult. I could probably last a couple of months, but with the way Thalia looked, she would barely last another two weeks at most.

Thalia seemed to realize that time was short and began talking again. "The last thing I remember before the pain was talking to someone, if you could call it talking. They were trying to understand stuff, and were showing me some pretty weird stuff. They even compared Camp Half-Blood to an Academy. I thought it was funny 'cause it reminded me more of military schools. But, I can't feel them now. What's going on?"

I grinned, trying not to let it slip into a grimace. "It turns out you gave me great directions."

She blinked, realization dawning on her. "You're the other person that was here?" I nodded, and she frowned. She looked me over with an appraising look. "You're older than I expected."

I let a small bark of laughter escape me. "I didn't really paint an image of you in my head. I was just glad for the company."

"I guess that makes sense. I mean, you were here when I got here." Thalia said.

Finally, information I could use. "Do you know how long have you been in here?"

"I don't know. A couple of months? Maybe a year?" Thalia asked with a confused look in her eyes.

I shook my head, ignoring the headache that was building. "You've been here for almost seven years."

Thalia's eyes widened. "Seven? Seven _years?_" I nodded. She looked stricken by this information. "Did...did they make it?"

"Who?"

"Grover, Annabeth, and Luke. Did they make it to camp?"

I figured that Annabeth was the Annabeth Chase I'd met on more than one occasion. However, I didn't know anyone named...wait. "Luke Castellan?"

A small smile slowly spread over her face as she let a small sigh escape her. "They made it."

"I'm not sure I understand. Who is -?"

"I'm sorry to cut this short, but you're needed." a voice said from behind me.

I glanced behind me with a curse, my eyes widening in surprise. I knew for a fact that I was the only one here, but here was someone else speaking? However, despite the closeness and direction of the voice, there wasn't anyone there.

I bit my lip as I thought over my options. On one hand, Thalia obviously wouldn't last long with the pain she was in, and I obviously was able to help her. On the other hand, the voice sounded like I really didn't have a choice in the matter.

Coming to a decision, I turned back to Thalia. "I'm sorry, but I've got to go."

Thalia nodded. "I'll be okay. I've got my breath back now, and I'm not going to lose."

I grinned despite myself. "I'm going to hold you to that."

"It's time to go."

The pain stopped as I removed my hand, and was violently yanked out of limbo.

* * *

I rubbed my eyes as the light returned at full force. It felt like the whole thing had been a dream, a very strange dream. However, as I pushed myself back up into a more comfortable sitting position, I felt the pain from within the tree. Grimacing, I turned gazed out across the field.

To my surprise, there was some guy walking towards the camp. I quickly got to my feet, my sword dropping from my lap on to the ground. "Who are you?"

The guy looked up, a large grin crossing his face as he waved a hand in the air. "Hello Camp Half-Blood! It's good to see you again!"

"Who are you?" I asked again, resisting the urge to bend down and pick up my sword. I could tell that he had some weapons, and that made me somewhat nervous. He was older than Percy, which meant that he was probably more experienced with a weapon.

Of course, that was assuming he wasn't a monster. I stayed on guard, not really willing to take my chances. There was a lot I didn't know about this place, and I didn't want to be caught off guard by something unexpected. Besides, if it came to a fight I'd just rip him apart with my bare hands.

The guy gave me a puzzled look before he chuckled. "You must be a new camper." he extended a hand to me, his earlier grin returning to his face. "I'm Tom Clarkson, son of Hermes. I'm known in Hermes cabin and by most everyone else in camp as Sawyer."

I shook his hand as I looked him over. He had a shortly cut mess of fuzzy brown hair, and very mellow hazel/brown eyes. Underneath his eyes were light rings, like he only got a few hours sleep before he'd woken up. He had a lot of tiny scars on his face that looked like he'd had pretty bad acne at some point, though he was pretty clear now. Along with these features, he also had certain features that the other kids in the Hermes cabin had; pointed ears, upturned eyebrows, a gleam in his eye that seemed to scream that he was mischievous. However, the usual sarcastic smile I was used to seeing on Hermes kids like the Stoll brothers wasn't there. Instead, he had a kind, yet guarded expression that made me a bit uneasy.

The nickname seemed a bit strange as well. I've given my fair share of nicknames, and 'Sawyer' was not one that jumped to the forefront of my mind. Although, I didn't really know what a 'Sawyer' was anyways.

I shook my head lightly and let my eyes quickly looked him over, trying to determine if he was a threat. He was pretty average in his build, and he stood at about my height, five foot nine or something close. I stared at him, and he stared back, looking me in the eye. Despite the oddly shaped sheathed trench knives strapped on both his legs, and braided leather whip slung over his shoulder, I could tell his intentions were friendly enough. That knowledge brought up a new problem though. I couldn't feel his emotions. There was a tiny amount of confusion, but other than that it was like he didn't even have any other emotions. And after all the ways that had helped me in camp so far, it made me nervous.

"So, are you some new formal greeter or something?" Sawyer asked, glancing out of the corner of his eye at the tree.

I noticed and shifted to a more guarded position. "No, there's been a little trouble with the border." I replied. "Everyone's at the chariot race thing, so I stayed on guard duty."

Sawyer nodded for a second. "Well that makes sense. The tree does look - chariot racing?" his eyes widened dramatically. "Since when?"

"Tantalus reorganized it a couple of days ago."

Sawyer had a sour expression at Tantalus's name that made me grin. "Wait, where's Chiron?"

"He got fired. Something to do with the tree I guess."

Sawyer scratched his chin. "When did Tantalus get out? I was under the impression that trying to trick the gods like he did warranted a lifetime sentence."

I shrugged. "Mr. D brought him. I'm not sure why, but the watching Tantalus chase after a hot dog is pretty funny. Even if it is a waste of good food."

Sawyer blanched at that. "Wasteful food? Blasphemy!"

I chuckled at Sawyer's antics, relaxing a bit as I laughed. "Hey, are you going to watch the race? If you need, I'll lead you to the new racetrack."

Sawyer shook his head. "Nah, I'm not a big sports fan. I you want, I'll go drop off my stuff and come join you on guard duty."

I shrugged. "Sure. It's kinda boring right now, so I could use the company."

Sawyer jogged off, looking rather happy about something. I would like to think it was me, but then lot of people were just happy to be back in camp. I shrugged and turned back to the field.

In the distance, I noticed a woman standing at the far edge of the field slowly walking in the direction of the camp. I squinted, trying to focus on the woman in the distance. _Yeah, 'cause squinting is really going to help me to see across a field._

I watched the woman warily, unsure of what I was seeing. Sawyer had been human, but then One Eye had appeared human too. The woman seemed to be staring back at me, as strange as that might sound. I mean, there was a whole field between us. How could she see me?

As I continued to watch, the woman began to jog. As she got closer, she appeared fuzzy, like she was running through water or something. My eyes narrowed in anticipation as I realized that it was similar to when One Eye had looked at me and his face blurred. Only with the woman, her whole body was wrapped in an illusion.

Getting closer, I could finally see her face. It was twisted into a snarl, and her eyes glowing like that of burning coal. Clawed talons seemed to extend and flex from her fingers and feet. A pair of leathery wings seemed to sprout from her back as she reached a sprint and leapt into the air.

My jaw dropped as she soared through the air towards me. A shriveled hag with bat wings, yellow teeth, and wings was barreling towards me at high speeds. That was definitely not something I'd seen everyday.

"Wow. Talk about ugly." I muttered as the monster quickly closed the distance.

I think she heard me, because I felt a wave of killing intent roll over me. My eyes darted from her to my still discarded sword. Unlike before, I didn't have enough time to grab the sword. She was approaching too fast and would be on me in seconds.

Thinking on my feet, my fingers formed a cross-shaped seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

A single clone appeared next to me, standing directly in front of my sword. Not taking any chances, he shoved me away from the tree and reached for my sword. I rolled away from the tree, hoping that the sudden duplication would catch the bat woman off guard.

I wasn't quite that lucky. Instead of continuing her flight towards the tree, she banked so that she was following me. Like I was her target, no he tree.

"Guard the tree!" I shouted at my clone, hoping that he'd hear me and stay where he was.

I tried to stand and take the fight to the trees, my area of fighting expertise. By he time I was on my feet though, the bat woman had reached me, claw-like feet aimed at my back. She must have had the same idea that I'd had, because a second later I was being dragged into the forest. Her claws dug into my back, penetrating deep enough that I couldn't shake her off.

Apparently she wasn't going to kill me just yet. I wasn't comforted by this thought.

After she'd dragged me a short ways into the forest, she finally let me go. I rolled forward, painfully aware of the injuries on my back. Blocking out the pain, I pushed myself to my feet.

Whirling around, I tried to figure out where she'd gone. In one moment of blindness, she had managed hide herself. "You've got to be kidding me."

"My lord doesn't 'kid' foolish mortal." a voice hissed from behind me.

I whipped around, my eyes darting through the shadows of the trees. Despite her best efforts to hide herself again, she'd given her location away as soon as she'd spoken. She was perched just behind a tree, trying to blend into the surrounding trees as she peeked around to keep an eye on me.

"Got 'cha!" I yelled, running towards the tree she was hidden in.

She obviously heard me, and responded exactly how I expected her to. She dove from her tree, barreling towards me at high speeds. Without thinking twice, I reached out with my chakra and grabbed a nearby log. As soon as I'd taken a hold of the log with my chakra, I tugged, switching places with it.

I quickly realized that I'd misjudged just how messed up my chakra had become. I could tell that the log had taken my place, but instead of taking the logs place, I'd reappeared in the air directly above the log. An as the saying goes, 'what goes up must come down.'

I fell amazingly faster than I've ever fallen on my own before. Even when Pervy Sage had shoved me into a ravine, I had more than enough time to think o my next stage. Although, I had help since I had been practicing to draw out the Kyuubi's chakra. Now though, I was falling fast with no time to think of my next step, or call on the fox's chakra.

I moved myself around so that I was falling head first. He bat woman had collided with the log and was looking around suspiciously as she tried to find me. I pulled back one arm, molding the needed chakra into the familiar spherical shape I knew as my most powerful offensive jutsu, silently whirling in the palm of my hand.

"Rasengan!" I shouted, crashing through the trees as I thrust my hand downwards.

The bat woman took one second to look up before jumping backwards to avoid my attack. I slammed into the ground, the Rasengan destroying a portion of the ground beneath me. I dropped the short way back to the ground and rolled to my feet.

"Impressive young one. It appears my lord was right in testing you before meeting you himself. You will be most entertaining."

I let out a sharp hiss as I steadied myself. The wounds in my back were definitely not doing me any good, and this fight was taking too long already. And while I knew I should end this, a nagging curiosity was eating at me. I already understood that monsters were going to attack Camp Half-Blood simply because they could and because they hated half bloods. This monster though, was basically saying that someone had ordered her to deliberately attack me _specifically_. And I wanted to know why.

I gritted my teeth. "Who is this 'lord' you're talking about?"

The bat woman threw back her head as she laughed. It sounded like nails on a chalkboard. "My lord knew you would know nothing of this world, but it is not my place to say. I can tell you that if he is watching, and he is plotting."

"What could I have possibly done to have someone plotting against me?" I asked.

The bat woman scowl returned. "You have thrown off the Fates balance. Things which were meant to be are changing. People who should be dead are alive." If it were at all possible, her scowl deepened. "And you have stolen from my lord."

I blinked in confusion. I loved the idea of changing fate and all that, and saving lives, but the last thing she said shouldn't have been possible. I haven't been here long enough to steal from anyone. Well, anyone important. "What do you mean?"

The bat woman opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by an oddly pitched whistling noise that reminded me of the music from Clarisse's MP3. She opened her wings and shot off into the air. "You are fools!"

I watched her fly off, scowling at her retreating form. I had once again learned nothing. Well, almost nothing. I had learned that there was someone after me, and was plotting something. Which meant that someone knew I was going to be here, and knew they had gone ahead and made plans that involved me. Questions upon questions filled my mind, with no answers in sight.

"Naruto!"

"Billy?" I whirled around. Sure enough, Billy was standing behind me with some instrument in his hand. Reed pipes, I think Percy had called them. He'd also said that they allowed satyr's to perform some nature magic stuff. I grinned at him. "What are you doing here?"

Billy had a look of impatience on his face as he scratched the ground with his hoof. "The camp is under attack! I was heading to the tree to get you when I heard you shouting. I didn't think you'd be having a wrestling match with a Fury though!"

"Wait, what do you mean the camp is under attack?" I asked, my eyes narrowing. I hate to admit it, but I was really starting to warm up to Camp Half-Blood. And I'd be damned if someone attacked it without me doing anything.

"Stymphalian Birds! They're swarming the campers!"

I didn't know what these 'Stymphalian Birds' were but it did't bring me any fuzzy feelings. I growled. "Show me."

We ran towards the racetrack as fast as possible. All the while, I couldn't help but worry about the foreboding feeling in my gut. The only think I knew about the feeling, was that the only other time I'd felt it was before the Retrieve Sasuke failure. And a lot of my friends were hurt on that mission.

"Don't worry, I'm coming." I whispered as I shot out of the forest.

No one messes with my friends. No one.

**

* * *

**

AN: Did you know that the Rasengan has a sound effect? Which means that the silent Rasengan must have a purpose! Of course, I'm not telling. Maybe next chapter.

**Yes, Clarisse listens to N'Sync. Don't judge her, it's just a quirk I wanted to put in.**

**Also, another new character! I wonder how many people will recognize the little quirk in his name.**

**Oh and Thalia showed up. Yay.**

**- Japanese to English Translation  
*Shimatta: (Damn it!)**

**I really liked some of the different minor gods you people have requested. In fact, one of the anonomous reviewers had **_**extensive**_** knowledge of some of the minor gods, several of whom I've either forgotten or didn't know about. I'm amazed by some of the knowledge that's out there, and I'm thankful to every different view that my reviewer gives me. It makes things very interesting.**

**I've given you guys something to enjoy, so please review, so I can have something to enjoy as well.**


	9. Everyone Needs a Good Laugh

Chapter 8: Everyone Needs a Good Laugh

* * *

It didn't take long to get to the clearing as Billy and I exploded from the forest. My eyes darted about, trying to remember where the racetrack was. While I did have a basic understanding of the layout of the camp, I had not been paying that much attention when Tantalus had told everyone where it was at. I silently cursed my bullheadedness as I racked my brain for that missing information.

"Naruto, this way!" Billy yelled, thankfully more aware of our destination.

I followed after Billy, biting my tongue as we ran. Billy was slower than me, and was dragging down my pace, but he was also the one who knew where to go. Unable to change anything, I ran besides him, hoping we'd get there in time.

Billy turned to me as we ran. "You've got a weapon right?"

I shook my head. "Nope."

Billy stopped abruptly. "What? You were planning on just running into battle without a weapon? What happened to your sword?"

"I uh, dropped it." I admitted sheepishly.

As we stopped, I realized it probably wasn't a good idea to go into battle without a weapon. Then again, my fists were doing a pretty good job so far. And who was I to mess with a proven system?

"Are you nuts? These are Stymphalian Birds we're talking about! You can't just hit them like the bulls and expect them to just crumple!" Billy yelled, stomping his hoof as frustration rolled off of him. "They're smaller, more agile, and have more numbers!"

"So what? I just roll over and play dead? I don't think so!" I yelled back, my own frustration rising.

"No, that's not what I'm saying." Billy said in a more placating manner. "What I'm saying is fight smart. You can win on fists alone, but you'll win twice as fast with a weapon to assist you."

My frustration evaporated. "Oh."

"Every hero has his fault." Billy said in a resigned tone. Then he smiled heartily. "Though, I suppose not listening isn't one of yours."

"No, I listen. And I heard you say we need to get over there." I said, my mind not leaving my fellow campers who were in danger.

Billy nodded. "Of course. Do you know where we can get any weapons?"

I almost said no as a thought popped up in my head. I mulled it over for a second before muttering, "Maybe, just maybe."

Ignoring the confused expression on Billy's face, I rushed forward again. This time though, I was trying as hard as I could to get out of Billy's sight. I didn't want him to freak out. Figuring the trees would provide the best coverage, I ran back into the forest, while still heading in the direction Billy had been headed. Making the familiar cross shaped seal, I formed a Shadow Clone to run besides me. A moment later, he jumped in front of me as he transformed into a replica of a bronze sword. I knew it wouldn't have much of an effect, but it was better than nothing.

With a growl of frustration, I channeled chakra to my legs to push me faster. Even with the added energy being transferred to my legs, I didn't feel like I was going fast enough. It was like every attribute besides my strength had gone back to Academy levels.

Bursting into the clearing again, I didn't waste any time throwing myself towards the shimmering flock of birds that were mobbing the campers. They looked like ugly bronze pigeons; making a hollow echoing noise each time they opened their mouths. It grated on my nerves, but I ignored it as I entered the mob.

Almost immediately I regretted my decision. I could feel everyone's fear at the same time. And while I'd felt a lot of feelings at once before, they were never this close or this strong. I had to take a deep breath to steady myself before I began to fight. All the while I had to ignore the growing desire to run away as fast as I could. They were scared, and someone needed to stand up.

"You're running? The fight is here, cowards!"

I glanced behind me as I saw Clarisse rush into battle, her sword jumping from place to place as she attempted to cut down the Stymphalian Birds. Facing forward, I focused on my own task; getting the campers somewhere safe.

"Campers, go to your cabins!" I yelled, taking a swing at one of the incoming birds. It didn't cut, seeing as my Clone was simply using the Transformation Jutsu, it really wasn't doing a lot of cutting damage. However, it was more than good enough as a club to fulfill my purposes for the time being.

Apparently the campers were either so freaked out they didn't hear me, or else they were ignoring me. None of them followed my instructions, and they all began to panic more. For a camp training heroes, they really sucked at their jobs. They were barely capable of fighting their way out of a cup of instant ramen.

I backed up slightly, trying to avoid the birds as they began to swarm me as well. I swung my 'sword' wildly in an attempt to hit even one of them. The birds had gotten smarter though, and were keeping out of reach. I growled in frustration as they continually evaded my reach.

"Archers! Can you get a clear shot?" Clarisse shouted.

I glanced in the general direction of her yell. Standing just outside the mob of birds was a line of archers, children of Apollo. Their arrows were notched, but pointed a the ground as they searched the mob. I wanted to yell at them to just shoot the birds already, when one of them spoke.

"We can't get a clear shot! The campers are in the way!"

I cursed under my breath. I had never seen a more disorganized group trying to fight. And that's saying something. At least in the small three man groups, we had the ability to know each other well enough to expect what the others might do. These campers were no suited for battle than I am to stop eating ramen.

"Campers, get to your cabins!" I yelled again.

I felt a small warning in the back of my head and ducked down. A second later, I heard a light coughing-like noise from above me. Glancing up, I saw Clarisse's sword skewering another bird. Looking back at her, I noticed a small grin.

"I'm winning." she said as she swung her sword around again.

I blinked in confusion before grinning widely. "Not for long."

I swung again, catching two with the swing. The went down in a puff of golden dust. Deciding to wonder why something like that would happen later I continued my assault.

A few moments later, disaster struck. I swung my blade in the wild motion I had become accustomed too. The Stymphalian Bird that I swung at dodged above my swing and raked its talons across the blade. There was the sound of blade-on-flesh as I watched my clone return to its original form.

"Shimatta!" I cursed as I placed my hand on my clones shoulder. It nodded solemnly before relinquishing its chakra back into me.

Now I was standing in the middle of the field, weaponless and pretty much alone. Or as alone as you can be when you're powering up a Mass Shadow Clone Jutsu. I formed the ram seal to focus my chakra before moving to make the hand sign that would unleash the flood of orange that is me. As I did so I froze.

In the woods was on of the two clones I had made earlier to get the pranking supplies. He waved at me happily as he held up his other hand. In that hand was the backpack I had been given just a few days before.

"If I ever run into trouble, tell the bag to open in my language." I muttered as I waved my clone down. He grinned as he drew his hand back. Scowling despite myself, I prepared for the bag to slam into my gut.

I caught the bag in my hands pretty easily. Whirling around, I spoke firmly. "Open."

Nothing happened.

I gave the bag a shake. "Come on you stupid bag, open! Open sesame?" Still nothing. I groaned softly. Wasn't this my native language? Getting rather angry, I growled as I spoke again. "Kami kuso! Akete kudasai!" (God damn it! Please open!)

A white light suddenly appeared in my right hand. I dropped the bag as I stared at the light, watching it take shape. A second after the lint appeared, it faded away, leaving a rather strange sight. Somehow, a sword had appeared in my hands. However, unlike the generic swords that everyone else had, this one was somewhat different.

It was a silver, single edged wakizashi. The blade was remarkably straight, with only a slight curve to it at the end. I was covered in swirling designs that crisscrossed over each other as they ran along the length of the blade. The guard was plain metal, with generic markings on it. The hilt was a foot long and was wrapped in a dark cloth that contrasted the blades coloring.

More than that was the battle feeling that came to me. I had to swing other swords around before I felt that 'I'm alive' feeling. This sword though, I was just _holding_ it, and that feeling was crossing through me. Plus, it felt stronger than the bronze swords I'd been wielding, despite the fact that the weight was balanced differently. This blade was special, I was sure of it.

I turned on my heel, cutting through another bird. Not used to the was the weight was balanced, I overextended, quickly bombarded my the Stymphalian Birds. Apparently they knew I was armed for real now, and wanted to get rid of me.

Focusing as much as I could, I lashed out at the birds. They arched backwards, most of them avoiding my swings. Unable to block from all sides at the same time, I felt several birds rake their talons along my back, cutting just enough to draw blood. I hissed in pain as I tried to strike back.

Suddenly, there was a sound that echoed through the field, reminding me of a lesser clap of thunder. The birds didn't seem to like the noise as they scattered about; still too close to the campers, but no longer attacking them. The noise echoed again, and I was able to see the source of the noise.

Sawyer was standing by some of the huddling campers, his whip in his hands with a look of focused concentration on his face. He flicked his wrist upwards, getting a snap out of his whip that continued to startle the birds. Behind him, Billy was swinging a large stick at the birds that got to close to some of the retreating campers.

Clarisse made herself known again as she yelled with a loud voice, "Get to your cabins!"

This time, everyone began to scurry about like chickens with their heads cut off. Despite the fact that it was making things easier, I couldn't help but grumble mentally. _Oh sure, I tell everyone to do that, and they look at me like I'm a moron._

As I thought this, a loud, rather obnoxious noise blasted through the field. Sawyer, Billy, and I plugged our ears as the noise rose in volume, causing the birds to take flight.

"Archers!"

Moments later, all the birds were dead on the ground, arrows protruding from their bodies.

"Bravo! We have our first winner!"

I growled as I looked at the approaching form of Tantalus. I'd forgotten about him, almost hoping that he'd been eaten by the birds. Of all the people who'd been helping out, he should have been one of them. Instead, he was handing a shocked Clarisse a golden band and declaring her the winner. If anything, she was just another hero doing her job. And where did the race fit in?

Tantalus turned and stared past me towards Percy and Annabeth. "And now to punish the troublemakers who disrupted the race."

* * *

In hindsight, I probably should have defended Percy, Tyson, and Annabeth. They were just doing what any other hero should have done. The only reason I didn't was because Percy told Tantalus to go chase a donut. Not knowing what that was, I asked around. Once I knew what it was, I couldn't stop laughing long enough to talk.

In the end, I could only watch as they were sentenced to kitchen duty. A moment later, he went ahead and ordered a banquet for Clarisse's victory. Even I could see how unfair that was, especially his reasoning. The only solace I had was that I was readying my prank for later that evening.

Because Percy and Tyson were mostly indisposed, I sat with the Ares cabin members. Granted, it was mostly because they dragged me to sit with them against my will, but there was another part. Apparently, when Clarisse had said she was winning, some of the other Aras's boys had kept track of how many we'd each taken down. In the end, Clarisse had taken down eleven, while I had taken down twelve; the most kills with a sword of all the people in camp. That somehow made them respect me, and because I was known for just sitting pretty much where I wanted to sit, they made sure I sat with them.

While they seemed rowdy, and obnoxious from the outside, they were actually far more organized than they appeared. Clarisse wasn't technically the 'leader,' but she had proven her strength time and time again, despite the fact that she was as young as she was. When some other person had said she was at a disadvantage because she was a girl, I chuckled. These guys had never seen someone like Granny Tsunade when she was angry.

Tantalus went on to make a speech, which was pretty much the same things he'd been saying before. This time though, he seemed to be in a more energetic mood. Like the sight of everyone with slight wounds covering their bodies, and not being allowed to go to the infirmary until after the lunch special was done was pleasant to see. It made me sick to see some of the people who were still in pain.

After lunch, a good portion of the campers went over to the infirmary to get some healing. Most of them just ate some sort of bread and left, while others stayed in for a bit. Curious, I took a piece and began turning it over in my hands.

"It's ambrosia."

I whirled around to see Sawyer standing behind me. He had a small injury on his shoulder, but appeared to be fine despite it. I gave him a confused look. "What?"

"Ambrosia, the food of the gods." Sawyer explained, motioning to the food in my hand. "Try it. It tastes different depending on the person."

I gave him a wary glance before popping the ambrosia into my mouth. Immediately, my taste buds were assaulted with the most pure taste I had ever tasted. It was something I had only dreamed of, but never quite yet experienced. It was the taste of every flavor of ramen, perfectly blended together to make one taste. Not only that, but the injuries on my back felt like they were slowly closing.

I moaned in delight. "Oh Kami, I always knew ramen was the food of the gods."

Sawyer chuckled. "Well, I suppose that'd be right for you. For me, it ranges from burritos to steak. Variety is everything."

I nodded. On my mind were the delicacy known as cheeseburgers. They weren't ramen, but they were a close second. With a sigh and a shrug, I made my way out of the infirmary.

As I walked away from the camp, I felt a small shiver run down my spine. Turning around, I looked around. Seeing nothing, I tried to keep moving. However, the shiver returned just as strong, all but forcing me to stop and focus on it.

There was an odd feeling around the camp, one that I hadn't noticed. I had never been near the infirmary, so I guess there was no reason for me to have felt it before. Focusing in on it, I realized that the feeling seemed to be almost hidden underneath in all the other emotions around me. With a growl of frustration mixed with anticipation, I headed off in the direction that the emotion grew stronger.

As I tracked the feeling, I couldn't help but notice the camper's expressions as I walked by. Some barely noticed me as they had to tend to their wounds. The Aphrodite girls were fretting about their hair more than their injuries, a few becoming extremely flustered by how their hair looked as I walked past. However, it was the looks from the Ares and Apollo camper that made me feel a bit awkward.

They looked at me with respect, something that in my own village I had barely seen in passing, they were openly giving me. A few of the Ares boys gave me a thumbs up, which I returned with only a small amount of hesitation. It felt good to be appreciated, as foreign as the concept was for me.

I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. This was not the feeling I was looking for, that much was obvious. The appreciation was more of a 'light' emotion, whereas this new feeling was more of a 'dark' emotion. Slipping away from the campers, I made my way into the center of a clearing. It practically burned with the strange emotion, sending a shudder down my back.

"What happened here?" I whispered. I ignored the other emotions as I almost unconsciously tightened my grip on my sword. It reminded me too much of another time when emotions ran as deep as this. A time where I'd tried to save my friend while he did everything he could to kill me.

"Animosity."

I didn't bother jumping in surprise as I saw the new figure enter the field from behind me. It was becoming pretty common for new people to appear out of thin air, and I figured I shouldn't worry about how he got here.

As he strolled by, I looked him over. He appeared to be in his late twenties, with a surprisingly large, broad build. His thick black hair hung in front of his face, yet not completely covering his blue eyes. An arrogant smirk marred his otherwise calm demeanor, reminding me of Sasuke. He wore a skintight, sleeveless black shirt, camouflage pants, and knee high combat boots.

"What are you talking about?" I asked. I didn't like his smirk, but if he could help me understand what I was feeling, I wouldn't complain.

The mans smirk widened. "That emotion you're feeling. It's a former camper's animosity towards the gods."

I sighed, my eyes drifting towards a random spot on the ground. "And why would they have animosity towards the gods?"

I wasn't expecting an answer, seeing as everyone else made sure to beat around the bush as much as possible. So I was surprised when he did answer. "He thought that the gods had deserted him."

My head snapped up. "Why would he think that? Didn't he know he was in a camp that has a god in it?"

The man chuckled. "Oh he knew. Maybe a better word to describe the feeling would be betrayed." he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Yeah, betrayed. He thought his father had deserted him and left him out to rot. And by extension, he figured it was that way for everyone else."

"Is he right?" I asked, trying not to let my excitement show through. Someone was finally explaining what I needed to hear, in words I could understand. I couldn't follow all of what he'd said, by I got the gist of it.

The man shrugged, setting himself down on a stump. "Depends on your point of view. The gods are powerful beings, but even we can get our hands full. We've got rivalries just like mortals that we've got to worry about. Plus, with all our duties, we can't spend every waking moment watching our kids grow up, as much as we'd like to."

"Wait, we?" my eyes widening as I spoke. I've spoken with Mr. D before, but other than him, I hadn't met any other gods. And now here one sat, looking at me with smug curiosity.

"Yes, _we_. And while people like me aren't big as gods, I do have an interesting history to back me up." he said as he puffed out his chest.

I shook my head. For a god, he acted too much like Sasuke to make me completely comfortable around him. "What kind of history?"

He waved his hand dismissively. "That's not important. What is important is that I'm here and..."

He trailed off, his eyes falling to the sword clutched in my hands. His smirk fell from his face as he sighed. "Kid, put that away. You don't want to have to walk around with that thing all day, and its magic should make it more than suitable to be carried. And it's kinda annoying how you're gripping it like some lifeline."

I blinked as I glanced at my sword. I had completely forgotten that I had it in my hand. Feeling slightly shamed, I scratched my cheek nervously. "Uh, how -?"

"You might want to try saying _shimete_ (close)." he said smugly.

Nodding in understanding, I whispered it quietly to the blade. In a flash similar to when it appeared, it was gone. A sudden pull around my neck drew my attention from my now sword-less hand to my chest. Hanging from my neck by a thick strand of twine was a silver key. It was an older, simple style, with three holes in the end portion that the twine ran through. It reminded me of Tsunade's necklace, only not an invaluable cursed gem.

"Just remember how to open it alright?" the god said with a small glare. "It's not every day the Big Three give someone like you such a gift."

"Huh? The Big Three? A gift?" I said in confusion. I remembered how it had sprung from my bag, and the stranger I'd gotten it from. My mind slowly ran through all of this information in succession as some of the pieces finally fit. "You sent that stranger."

He shrugged. "Actually, when Hermes heard someone needed to deliver a package to you, he jumped at the opportunity to give it to you."

"Why?" I asked, shifting about. While it was more polite to speak to someone without a weapon, I missed the feel of the sword in my hand. It gave me some comfort in knowing that if I needed I could defend myself.

"Because of you." his smirk fell for a moment, turning to one that was indefinitely more thoughtful. "I haven't seen a hero this fought over since Odysseus."

"Who?"

He dismissed me and my curiosity with a wave of his hand. "Never mind. Ask Athena's daughter, uh, what's her name?"

I raised an eyebrow at that. "Annabeth?"

"That's the one." he straightened slightly as he stared at me. "Look, I've got to get going soon, so I need to make this brief. You and your presence have thrown our world out of balance. The Fates knew how everyone would come to an end, and were able to see the events before they happened."

"Wait, our lives are controlled by fate?" I asked skeptically.

He nodded, his eyes slightly clouded over. "Yes. Everyone's fate is decided. Our choices just lead us down the path that inevitably ends how they planned."

There was a moment of silence as I digested this information. Then I threw back my head and yelled, "Damn it Neji! Why'd you have to be right?"

The man jumped at my sudden yell before bursting out into laughter. "You see! That's the sort of things that are throwing off the Fates! You're unpredictable. And more importantly, uncontrollable. That's why we need you."

"I'm not sure I understand." I said, feeling a bit uncomfortable. I had an idea about where this conversation was going, and I didn't like where that ended up.

"Us gods want you to do something for us. Something that will benefit all of us." he leaned forward, a serious expression returning to his face. "Tonight, Tantalus will be forced to send some people on a quest. We want you to take part in the quest to save Thalia's tree."

I blinked. That didn't sound like something that was too difficult. However, there were still questions unwanted answered. "Why me?"

"Like I said, the Fates don't control you. You can stop the Titan Lord's plans because you are a wild card. He won't, can't expect you. Also, the gods need someone who they all can agree on to send to protect our interests. You haven't been claimed yet, so you fit the bill. Who knows, maybe your parent will claim you after the quest. Big acts make it easier for the gods to send signs to their children seeing as they've set themselves up as someone to be counted on."

_I guess that makes sense._ I thought as I mulled over what he said. "What's in if for me?"

He shrugged. "We'll see. Since this is a big thing we're asking, we want it done before we really promise you something. In fact, I you want we'll let you pick what you can get out of it. This is really important."

My ears twitched at that. They'd let me pick whatever I wanted? There was something that I wanted. I wanted to go home, to make good my promise to Sakura, and to fulfill my boasting of becoming Hokage, the leader of the Leaf Village.

I opened my mouth to voice my desire, but was cut off as he spoke. "Just think on it for now. You can be dead set on what you want now, but you don't know how things may change. Trust me, things always change."

I stared at him for a long moment, unable to bite back my curiosity. "Who are you?"

He grinned. "Don't you worry your empty little skull on that. You've got bigger things to worry about. Now will you make the promise to do what you can for Thalia's tree?"

I nodded, sticking my hand out towards him. He grabbed my hand and shook it. I barely kept myself from hitting back a cry of pain. He had a strong grip, and it felt like he was trying to crush my hand in my grip.

He let go of my hand, nodding with a grin. "Good! Now don't go back on that promise. All us gods will be watching."

He suddenly brought his hands together in a clapping motion. The sound that reverberated through my ears though, was anything but a clap. It was more of a point blank thunderclap. I saw stars in my eyes and blinked profusely as I tried to realign myself.

I had somehow fallen when he clapped, and had to push myself up to my knees to look around. In the moment of my disorientation he'd gone.

I stared at where he'd once been. Then, I began to laugh. A deep, loud laugh that filled the clearing. I'd finally found a possible way to get home, I actually learned something, I had a cool weapon, and I couldn't be happier.

* * *

I was wrong. There was one thing that could make me happier.

And that was why I was almost unable to breath as Tantalus walked into camp. Unlike his usual calm demeanor, he wasn't even hiding his barely withheld rage. His eyes darted about, daring someone to say something to him.

There was a reason for his anger. He'd just spent time after lunch chasing a cheese wheel that was just barely out of reach, before getting knocked out. I couldn't help but admire my work as he scowled at everyone who looked at him for a second too long.

Back in the Village Hidden in the Leaves, I was a notorious prankster, best known for defacing the Hokage Mountain. It was a masterful piece of art meant to be viewed by all. Tantalus's face was nowhere near the same, although he was far more capable of expressing how he felt about it.

His face was covered in paint that was most built around what he couldn't do. His already pale skin was now starkly white, like one of those geisha ladies. He had two streaks of pale blue running down his cheeks like tears and two more on either side of his mouth like drool; something he couldn't do since he couldn't drink enough water to make tears or saliva.

His hair was my pride and joy; a brilliant, bright pick color that all but glowed in the pale moon light. I had briefly wondered if that would be insulting Sakura, but dismissed it soon after. It was too good of an opportunity to pass up. Just the fact that someone had brought pink hair dye in the first place was odd, but I wasn't going to question it.

The thing that brought it all together was the thing that did glow in the dark. All of his prison suits, casual clothes, and other clothes had been destroyed and replaced with jumpsuits dyed in a neon lime green dye. I even made sure that there was no way he could get any other clothing to make sure he had to wear it. Even with the fire and moonlight around him, his clothes were standing out like a sore thumb. And people had told me that orange was a bad color.

And to top it all off, I'd gotten caught by Mr. D, and didn't get into trouble. All he did was shrug and tell me to hide the dyes back in the shed.

Mr. D is awesome like that.

Tantalus tried to sneer at everyone, but it only made people laugh when he turned his back. His white face seemed to remove the terrorizing feeling he usually inspired. In the back of my mind, I silently thanked myself for not painting the horrid purple around his eyes. He'd actually look scarier than normal, like the snake teme Orochimaru. I shuddered to think of there being two of him.

We sat around the campfire, singing songs as the Apollo cabin members lead. I didn't know any of the songs, but sang along as best as I could. Interestingly enough, Sawyer stood up during one of the songs and started to dance about, pulling people up as he went. By the third song, everyone was up and dancing to the songs, the fire rising higher and changing color.

Mr. D had looked rather bored before that, looking like he'd rather leave than stick around. When everyone started to dance about though, he kept chuckling as he watched us. Apparently we were pretty entertaining.

At the end, a disgruntled Tantalus slowly clapped for us. "How quaint."

He had a stick with what I'd been told was a 'marshmallow' on the end. Despite his bad mood, he tried to snatch it like he always did. The marshmallow seemed to sense his intent, as it jumped away. With a growl, Tantalus made a dive for it. He marshmallow was smarter than he was though, as it jumped into the fire.

A moan resounded through the camp. "Stop wasting the food!"

I shook my head at Sawyer's pained expression. He was strange, that much I knew. There was only one thing that made me nervous about him though. I couldn't feel his emotions.

I could feel everyone's emotions, from Tantalus to Percy, everyone seemed to be almost projecting their emotions at me. Sawyer though, was a blank slate. Even with his emotions openly displayed, I couldn't tell what he was really feeling.

Tantalus snarled at him before schooling his expression to a cold smile. "Now then! Some announcements about tomorrow's schedule."

"Sir," Percy said.

Tantalus's eye twitched. "The kitchen boy has something to say?"

A couple of Ares boys snickered at that, but stopped when I glared at them. Percy stood, and surprisingly Annabeth did the same.

"We have an idea of how to save the camp."

Lee and Gai could have run through the camp right then yelling at the top of his lungs about youth, and no one would have noticed. Percy had their attention. The fire even changed to a bright yellow as we looked at Percy expectantly.

Tantalus snorted. "Indeed. Well, if it has anything to do with chariots-"

"The Golden Fleece. We know where it is."

Apparently this was a big deal, as the flames burned orange. Percy jumped into an explanation of a dream he'd had, involving someone named Grover. Annabeth took over after a while to tell everyone what the fleece could do.

I was impressed by some of the abilities the fleece supposedly had. Healing, prosperity, stuff like that. It was amazing they hadn't been scouring the land trying to find it in the first place.

The place it was supposedly hidden brought a grin to my face. He Sea of Monsters. Home to dangerous monsters of all kinds. Back in the Leaf Village, this was the sort of thing I dreamed of. Fighting monsters, epic rescues, and coming out the hero.

"The Fleece can save our camp." she concluded. "I'm sure of it."

"Nonsense," Tantalus said. "We don't need saving."

I growled as everyone looked at him with confused looks. He grew uncomfortable at their stares after a moment.

"Besides, the Sea of Monsters? That's not an exact location. You wouldn't even know where to look." he looked a Percy smugly, daring him to figure out how to get around that roadblock.

"Yes I do."

I rubbed my forehead in frustration. This was way to convenient, and it felt like a trap. But, like all good traps, the bait was something we wanted. No, needed.

"30, 31, 75, 12." Percy said with a hint of pride in his voice.

"Thank you for those useless numbers, but what do they mean?" Tantalus asked, a scathing, superior glaze falling on Percy.

"They're coordinates, latitude and longitude. We learned about it in social studies."

_I've never heard of stuff like that before. _I thought quietly as I mulled over what he'd said. It made sense in a twisted sort of way, since maps did generally have numbers on them. I hadn't really asked about it while I was with Pervy Sage, and had never been taught it at the Academy. But something still troubled me.

How in the world was everything falling into place so perfectly? Percy knew what random numbers meant, he had a dream that his friend had found the _one thing_ that could save the tree, and I'd been asked to make sure I went on that quest. It was just to well organized for it to really be coincidence.

I was snapped out of my mental grumblings as I realized that everyone around me was chanting. I was sitting at the Ares table again, having been dragged over to them again, and they weren't exactly the quietest of people.

"We need a quest. We need a quest." They chanted, along with the rest of the camp.

"Wait just a moment." Tantalus said, frantically turning to Mr. D, who just shrugged and motioned to the campers.

The flames grew higher as the chanting grew louder. "We need a quest. We need a quest."

"It isn't necessary!" Tantalus tried to yell, but his voice was lost in the chant.

"WE NEED A QUEST! WE NEED A QUEST!"

As I watched them, I couldn't help but wonder if this was how all of their quests started. If it was, it was a pretty screwed up system. Who would think that something like this was a good idea?

Mr. D sneezed as Tantalus caved. "Fine! You brats want me to assign a quest?"

"YES!" the campers chorused.

Despite the various emotions around me, I couldn't help but feel nervous. He had something planned, and it probably wouldn't be good for them.

"Very well," Tantalus agreed. "I shall authorize a champion to undertake this perilous journey, to retrieve the Golden Fleece and bring it back to camp. Or die trying. I will allow our champion to consult the Oracle! And choose two companions for the journey. And I think the choice of champion is obvious."

He sent an almost malicious smile to Percy and Annabeth. "The champion should be someone who has earned the camp's respect, who has proven resourceful in the chariot races and courageous in the defense of the camp. You shall lead this quest…Clarisse!"

I ignored the thundering of the Ares cabin as a knot formed in my stomach as he said that. He was almost openly saying that he was going to slowly let the camp fall apart. I finally realized something through. It was all about politics, twisted obscure politics where the goal was only your own satisfaction. It wasn't right.

Clarisse stood up, a nervous wave passing through me as she spoke. "I accept the quest!"

"Wait! Grover's my friend," Percy tried to yelled over the Ares kids camping. "The dream came to _me._"

While he was right, the look of betrayal in his eyes spoke volumes for the anguish he obviously felt. I knew that kind of feeling, the feeling I had when Sasuke left. I ground my teeth together as I tried to think of what I could do.

A small nudge poked me in the back of my head. I glanced up, looking around suspiciously. Another nudge pointed me towards the head table, and my eyes locked with Mr. D's. He gave me a subtle, almost unnoticeable nod. There was a strange understanding that passed between us, and I realized what I had to do.

"Clarisse," I said, standing up as well. A few people gave me curious looks, but I ignored them. "I want to be one of the companions who goes on the quest."

There was a strained silence that seemed to be almost tangible. Surprisingly, it wasn't Clarisse who broke the silence.

"Excuse me Mr. Uzumaki," Tantalus barked. He had a venomous, yet curious glare. "What exactly do you think you're doing? You are not permitted to impose yourself on a quest like this."

"No, I suppose he doesn't." Mr. D interjected. "But then, it would be quite an amusing sight to see just how much better two heroes are than one."

Tantalus glared at me, twitching slightly as though he wished he could say more. Then, with a strangled sigh, his shoulders slumped. "Fine. Clarisse, go consult the Oracle. Everyone else, to your cabins. A curfew will be enforced from now on, so make sure you make it back." A malicious grin crossed his face as he looked us over. "The harpies are always hungry, and will attack anyone who does not have explicit permission from me to leave the camp. Go along."

There was a small amount of muttering as everyone began to stand and leave. It was obviously an anticlimactic end to the meeting, but I suppose it could have been worse. He might have tried to get us to tell who'd pranked him.

Then again, I was still waiting for his reaction to my other prank. A grin slowly spread across my face. It would be an interesting morning, as long as I was there to see it.

**

* * *

**

AN: Many revilations, including Naruto's new weapon. It wasn't a misstype when I said it was made of silver. Why it's made of silver...well, you'll have to wait and see!

**Yes, Naruto is one of Clarisse's companions for the trip. I only knew about this because I just recently got the book again to read it. I've been doing most of this by memory, so imagine my surprise when I realized I could send Naruto on a diversion to Percy's seperate portion of the trip, and give people insight. It was rather fun thinking of that, and should be an interesting twist.**

**And who's that minor god? Well, it's actually one that was going to be in regardless, but no one guessed who he is. I wonder if anyone else will figure out who he is...**

**As for Mr. D's behavior, the way see it, Mr. D doesn't like the camp because it's a punishment. If he _really_ hated it, he probably wouldn't have done anything the many times he could have. Plus, he's got kids there. Is he really going to just let them die? He's not _that_ bad. Plus, he gets along with Naruto because he makes the punishment fun, in a manner of speaking. After all, who else would think of pink hair and a neon green jumpsuit for Tantalus? (plus, whatever the 'other prank' is) **

**Also, since it's the 'other' of the every other chapter, it's time for some useless information:**

**I have picked the pairing, as well as a few minor gods to add into the story. However, I will not be revieling them until later. Don't think because Naruto interacts with one character a lot, that the others won't have their moments of pairing building. After all, Thalia and Bianca don't _really_ come in until the 3rd book.**

**I hope you've enjoyed this, as I hope to enjoy your reviews!**


	10. I Fall Overboard

Chapter 9: I Fall Overboard

* * *

-  
I stood at the edge of the river that flowed into the camp, idly swinging my new sword around. Despite the fact that I was obviously on the right path to getting home, there were some things that were troubling me. One of which came from the information my clone had given me when he dispelled earlier in the morning.

Percy had gone off into the forest followed shortly by Annabeth and Tyson. Tantalus caught wind of it, and took if after them with the harpies in tow. Moments after they had entered the forest, Tantalus and the harpies returned cursing under their breath.

They had left camp under the cover of night, and gone of to rescue their friend. Personally, I couldn't be happier about that. However, that also meant that we might meet on our quest and have to help one another. Not exactly something that would be good.

The other thing that was bothering me was a sense of first mission paranoia. I've been sent on a mission that wasn't all it appeared to be and nearly lost my best friend because of it. Then again, I lost him later anyways.

I turned on my heel and chucked my blade like an oversized kunai into a nearby tree at the thought. I didn't like the way these thoughts were going. After all, it was one mission and then I'd be heading home. Simple.

With a small snarl, I all but ripped the blade from the tree. It didn't get quite the depth of my other blade, but it was far straighter cut.

I rubbed my head in pain as it suddenly felt like my head was being hit with a hammer. I remember hearing about something like this in the Academy, migraine's I think they were called. I thought it was pretty odd for me to be getting them, seeing as I never used to get any at home. Then again, I didn't have to think about anything this complicated at home. They had just started since the night before, and were a pain to deal with. These randomly occurring pains in general were making my life much harder, especially since I'd become so weak.

I was at civilian-level speed, my breath ran out faster, it was harder to hide, and now I was getting painful headaches. The only thing that seemed to be better was my strength, and while I used to use that in a berserker style, it didn't make for much without my Mass Shadow Clone Jutsu backing it up like it used to. And that was only gone because whenever I made normal Shadow Clones, it drained a huge chunk of my chakra.

"You know, the tree didn't do anything to make you so mad."

I sighed as Clarisse walked up behind me in her full armor. "You're late."

Clarisse scratched the back of her hand nervously. "I had some things I had to finish doing."

"Don't worry; I've been up for a bit longer than you have." I glanced behind her. The night before, Clarisse had told me to meet her here, and that she would be bringing another member of her cabin along. Looking behind her though, there was no one in sight. "Where's the other guy?"

Clarisse's face twisted into a snarl for a brief second before it settled back into a more impassive expression. "My _siblings_, decided to stay here and guard the camp in my absence."

I nodded. It made sense; after all, Ares cabin had proven to be amongst the most active cabins to guard the camp. Taking two people from the cabin might upset the way things were going more than if only Clarisse left. The brief look made me wonder if there was more, but I decided to not ask for now. Last thing I needed was to get punched in my face by someone I'd be traveling with for a while.

There was a rustle behind us as Mr. D emerged. "Ah, our two heroes are preparing to set off." Mr. D said in his bored tone. "Are all your preparations ready?"

Clarisse nodded. "I just have to pray to my father and we should be off."

Mr. D clapped his hands together, a look of delight suddenly springing across his face. "Wonderful! Then I can go back to sleep. It's too early for someone like me to be walking about."

He turned to leave, giving me only one opportunity to call out to him as I remembered something. "Mr. D!"

"Yes Naruto?" Mr. D said as he turned back to me.

"How is Tantalus? I heard him having some…difficulty this morning." I said with a grin.

Mr. D rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well, I've never quite seen someone go so far to ensure someone was as uncomfortable as possible, but you seem to have pulled it off." he gave me a mischievous glance. "What convinced you to cover his clothes in different foods?"

Clarisse's head snapped in my direction. "You did what?"

I pretended to ignore her as I spoke to Mr. D again. "Don't forget about the itching powder on his sheets. That is how I planned for the rest of it to work."

Clarisse's gaze darted between me and Mr. D as she put together what I'd done to Tantalus. "Wait, you mean to tell me that you pranked Tantalus so that he wouldn't have any clothes?"

"And since all the other clothing from the camp store has gone missing," Mr. D remarked as he sent me a humorous look. "Tantalus may have some…difficulty performing his duties."

Clarisse's face turned to one of disgust. She glared at me. "Why would you do something like that?"

"Uh, he was annoying?" I replied, scratching the back of my head nervously. She looked mad, and I really didn't want to get hit.

There was a long pause. Then, Clarisse burst out laughing. For a moment, I stared at her, trying to hold back my own laughter. Unable to do so, I was soon laughing as well. It wasn't good for my migraine, but I didn't care. Even Mr. D got a good chuckle out of it.

As the laughter finally died down, Clarisse spoke again. "That is the worst excuse I've ever heard."

I shrugged. "I have other excuses, but that one was most appropriate for Tantalus."

Mr. D coughed lightly, getting our attention. "Well, while that was indeed much fun to reminisce on, you really must be off. We need the Fleece now more than ever." he sounded solemn, like this was something he had never wanted to think of. "May the gods watch over you."

"Thank you Mr. D." Clarisse said, smirking confidently. "We'll be back before you know it."

"Make sure all of the hamburgers aren't gone when I get back." I said with a grin. What can I say? The little meat-buns had grown on me.

"And you make sure to watch out for yourself. You're too entertaining to die just yet." Mr. D said with a small smile before he turned and walked back into camp.

"Uh, okay. That was pretty weird." Clarisse said as soon as Mr. D was gone. "But I think we'd better get going."

"Huh? Oh, right." I muttered, rubbing my head as another wave of pain rolled over me. I glanced around the shore. "Uh, how are we leaving?"

"My father will provide us with a ship." Clarisse said as she bowed her head. "Oh Ares, give us transport to the Sea of Monsters!"

Nothing happened for a moment. However, as I looked over the surface of the water, there was something that caught my attention. The sound of something bubbling up from beneath the water. I took a hesitant step back as the bubbling grew stronger, and I could finally see where it was coming from. Clarisse just stayed where she was, starring at the bubbles.

Then, with a large lurch, the water exploded outwards. I covered my face as a small splash of water sprayed me. As the rumbling died down, I peeked out to see if the coast was clear. As I did so, I came to the conclusion that Clarisse had a very loose definition on the word 'ship'. It was not a ship.

It was a metal building on the water.

I haven't seen many ships before. The biggest one I've been on before was when me and my team were on our way to the Land of Snow. And even that had been a big boat. This ship however, was colossal.

This ship was at least two or three times the size of the boat we'd taken to the Land of Snow; that made it at least as long as the Hokage Tower was tall. Another major difference was that it was made completely out of metal. How it stayed afloat, I wasn't sure. There were even two metal tubes attached to the middle portion of it, facing outwards through little holes in the ship. A metal ramp extended towards us, making me jump in surprise.

"Wow."

Clarisse was apparently pleased by my reaction as she smirked. "We've got our transportation, so let's get going."

I nodded, still in awe at the ship. As we walked onboard, I noticed a large group of men walking around. After asking Clarisse why I could see their skulls through their ever gray faces, she informed me that they were all dead and were merely ghosts of former soldiers who fought and lost during some 'civil war'. I shivered whenever we passed one. I don't like ghosts.

Most had a tired look in their eyes, and barely gave us a second glance. Some though, were more alert, taking notice of us and giving us a look over. They were dressed in matching grey uniforms that marked them as the soldiers they had once been.

As we walked into the interior of the ship, one of the men with a particularly decorative uniform approached us. "Greetings ma'am. I am the captain of the CSS_ Birmingham._"

"I assume you know your duties?" Clarisse asked, giving him a skeptical glare.

The captain nodded, giving her a militant salute. "Lord Ares has told us of our duties, and we will do whatever it takes to fulfill them."

"Good, then let's be off." Clarisse said.

* * *

-  
I stood on the top deck, moving from side to side as I dodged sword swings. Unarmed, but trying all the same, I grabbed for my opponents arm and caught hold of it. Giving the arm a sharp twist, I heard a sickening crack before my opponent disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Not bad. That clone seemed more like a normal one should."

I turned to my clone, watching as he sat on the nearby railing. "You sure about that? I couldn't tell."

My clone grinned. "Of course I know. I'm you."

I sighed, moving over to the railing. Since there was really nothing better to do, I was trying to fix some of my problems that I'd been having since I got here. My physical fitness, Shadow Clone, and headache problems specifically.

"How's the migraine?" my clone asked.

I rubbed my head with a sigh. "Better."

My clone shook his head. "You know, I think we've been lucky so far. Especially with how different things are here."

I couldn't help but chuckle. "When has luck not been a factor to my success?"

"True, but with how things have been changing, are you sure it's all by chance?"

I gave him a look out of the corner of my eye. "You've been thinking about all this? When have I has the time to think about this?" My eyes closed in confusion. "When have I had the ability to _think?_"

"You haven't." my clone replied, staring off into the horizon. "But it's probably the same reason we're Jonin level in the spirit half of our chakra with civilian control, and all but civilian speed and strength in our physically half."

I snorted at that. It was true though. Ever since I'd come here, all of the training I'd had from Kakashi and Pervy Sage seemed to have gone down the drain. When my clones had tried the tree climbing that first night, they had actually failed a couple of times. Even the water walking had been difficult; more so than it had been before Jiraiya had fixed whatever the snake girl from the Forest of Death had done to me. And all the different physical training I had done seemed a moot point now since I couldn't move fast enough to perform half my techniques.

I clenched my hand, staring at my palm. The Rasengan I had used against the Fury had been too weak to have caused much damage even if I'd hit her with it. Apparently my screwed up control had drained how much chakra I had put into it, making it about half as powerful as the one Pervy Sage had used on a Hidden Rock ninja before he taught me the Rasengan.

I formed another Rasengan in my hand. After only a moment, the whirling ball of pure energy was spinning in my hand. I stared at the ball, my face twisted into one of confusion and frustration. I could _feel_ the chakra used to create the Rasengan; something I could never do before because I have too much chakra. Plus, I could contain it without the help of a Shadow Clone; another thing that shouldn't have been possible because of my chakra capacity. Now though, while I felt the chakra, it felt like I could spew them about without worry; although, that was probably because of how weak my Rasengan currently was. While it was cool that I could make so many, it wasn't a good thing for me. The only offensive technique – and really the _only_ technique – I had been taught was currently weak, and all but useless in a fight. Which meant I was useless and weak.

I don't like feeling useless or weak.

I let the energy go, feeling angry at my loss of power. I took a deep breath to steady myself, hoping that somehow I'd be able to return to my normal energy soon. As I did so, I noticed something in the air that I hadn't before.

I took another deep breath, focusing on the smell. "Do you smell that?"

My clone gave me a funny look. "Who do you think I am, Kiba?" he responded jokingly. However, after taking a deep breath himself, he seemed to stiffen considerably more than normal. "Yeah, I think I smell that. What is that?"

I shrugged. I took another tentative sniff. It wasn't the sea smell we'd been smelling all day, it was too rotten to be a sea smell. I tilted my head towards the sky as I took another sniff. It seemed to be just as bad higher in the air as it was right in front of me.

I shuddered at the nauseous feeling that suddenly swept over me. It felt wrong, like it was slowly suffocating me. I had to take a step back and take a moment to steady myself. The closest feeling to this I had ever had had been when I'd been in the Land of Waves, and even then that was because of the humidity.

My clone shook his head. Unlike my normal Shadow Clone Jutsu, I had accidentally forced too much chakra into the technique – and considering my previously horrible control, I'm talking _way_ too much chakra – which made them somehow different than my normal clones. They were more durable, and had more skill than normal clone. The strange thing was there was something else that was different that scared the living daylight out of me. They were smart. Smarter than me and had proven a few times in the few hours on the ship to be more devious than I am too.

I felt a small chill go down my spine as I turned to my clone. There was a glint in his eyes that screamed trouble. "You wanna spar? It might help clear the air."

I nodded, wondering why this felt like a very, very bad thing to do.

* * *

-  
"Come on! Stop trying to hit me and hit me!"

I growled as fell to the deck of the ship, hissing slightly in pain as my back connected roughly with the steel. I glared up at my clone as he held the sword over me semi-threateningly, a cocky smile on his face. I batted his blade away with my own sword and leapt to my feet, swinging wildly as I tried to hit him.

And was quickly knocked onto the deck again.

"Seriously, are you really trying, or are you just this bad?"

"Do I really sound like that?" I muttered, wondering just how arrogant I was for my clone to be acting like this. They were usually pushovers that were at least careful with what they said so that they wouldn't be quickly dispelled. Now that glancing blows didn't dispel him, he seemed to have a lot more to say to me.

My clone shrugged. "I dunno. Us clones don't usually get to talk much since we used to be so fragile. Since you can't just dispel me here, I can talk all I want." He grinned at me cheekily. "Besides, I'm way better at this than you are at this."

All around us, the soldiers were going about their duties. Most were ignoring us, not bothering to pay attention to our skirmish. Others however, were watching in confusion and amazement as we fought. There was some muttering amongst them about how it was impossible for me to be fighting myself, but what did they know. I've been able to make clones for three years.

Jumping to my feet again, I hesitated before attacking again. Somehow, my clone _was_ better at me at swordplay. I would attack, get a glancing blow off of his sword, and then be knocked down for my troubles. The strange thing was, he was _me_. How could _I_ be better than _myself _at something? It was insane.

Swinging my sword again, he knocked it away with a smirk. Feeling the exhaustion and blows to my head making me dizzy, I took a step back to put some distance between me and my clone. My clone moved faster than I expected, traveling the distance between us. Instead of using his sword, he barreled into me, knocking me further back. Stumbling further back and trying to get my balance again, I felt my back slammed against the railing on the side of the boat. Unable to stop myself, I slipped and fell over.

Surprised, and caught off guard, I could only watch as my clone ran to the railing and looked over, getting further away as I fell. Then, I was surrounded by the cold ocean water.

Shuddering as the water seeped into my shirt, I struggled to the surface. It was far from the cold of Snow Country's water, but it still sent a small chill down my spine. Kicking my feet and channeling chakra to them to get a quick boost, I rose and exploded to the surface.

Coughing and spitting up water, I glared at my clone who looked relieved that I was alright. Placing my hand on the surface of the water, I attempted to push myself up only to have my hand pass through the water. Sputtering in surprise as I was hit in the face with another pray of salty water, I tried again. Not getting a hold on the waters surface like I'd been trained to do, I growled frustrated as I tried again.

And again.

And just for a change of pace, I tried again.

My clone, who could have been helping me, just watched with an amused expression on his face as he watched my struggling. "Are you comfortable down there?"

I sputtered again as more salt water got into my mouth. "Oh, just fine. Why don't you come up here and see for yourself!" I shouted as I roughly slammed my fist against the water, spraying the side of the ship with water. It didn't help, but I needed to vent my frustration on something.

I could see his grin as he shuffled down the railing. "I would, but then I would probably get left behind like you're going to."

I blinked, shaking my head to get some of the water out of my face as I looked at the ship. True to his words, the ship was still moving forward without me. Luckily, I'd been able to keep up with it, not getting to far from the deck where my clone and I had been fighting. Growling angrily, I swam to the side of the ship. I didn't have time to relearn water walking, so I would just have to use the tree climbing on the ships hull to get back up.

As I placed my hand on the hull and began to pull myself up. My feet slipped a bit as I tried to place my feet against them, so I just kept pulling with my hands. As I climbed and go higher, I heard someone yelling on the deck. Confused, cold, and ready to kill my clone, I ignored it as I continued my climb up the ship. Halfway up, I could make out some of what was being said despite my state of mind.

"I told you, I am Naruto!"

"He's lying mistress. I saw him knock his original over the side of the ship and into the water."

"Well then get him out of there!"

I chuckled as I listen to the conversation, pushing off my hands and finally getting my feet to climb up. With a small grin, I watched Clarisse, the captain, and my clone peak their heads over the side of the ship. Waving as nonchalantly as I could, I grinned. "Hi."

Their expressions were hilarious. My clone looked bored, though a bit frustrated by something or another which confused me. The captain looked apathetic, his skull showing through the illusion of his 'face' as he stared down at me. Clarissa had the best reaction though, looking like her jaw would hit the deck at any moment as she saw me standing on the side.

With a grin, I walked the rest of the way up and pulled myself over the edge of the railing. Clarisse was knocked from her stupor, looking between me and the water as she spoke. "What the, how did…how?"

"Surprised to see him?" My clone asked, glancing at me. There was a strange look in his eye as he stared at me. I had never seen that kind of 'knowing' look before from my clones, but it was eerily familiar. Like I'd seen that knowing look from someone before.

Clarisse looked between me and my clone with a look of confusion. "Yeah! I mean, he was walking on the side of the ship!"

"I would have walked on water if my chakra had worked right." I muttered.

The captain raised an eyebrow at that, obviously surprised that I still had more tricks to show. Clarisse however, didn't hear me as she returned to her normal 'in charge' self. "Well, don't fall over the edge again. We don't need to lose any of the crew at this stage in our travel, least of all my companion on this quest."

My clone chuckled. "Sounds like she's growing attached to us."

Clarisse looked flustered, as she shot my clone a glare. I shook my head at that comment, feeling amused at my clone for saying something like that. She was probably just glad someone had come with her on the trip since her siblings hadn't come.

"Just dispel. I personally don't want to die from her fury just yet." I said sarcastically, shaking my head.

There was a brief pause as my clone flashed me an amused and victorious grin before he dispelled. I had to take a deep breath as he shimmered out of existence and the memories hit me, only to flinch in pain as one particular memory hit me. I slowly turned to Clarisse who was channeling my world's 'Womanly Aura of Death' behind her. I gulped and looked to the captain for help. He just shook his head and turned away.

"Now that he's gone, would you like to explain his…actions, while you were overboard?"

"N-Now Clarisse, I had nothing to do with that!" I said, backing up to the railing again.

I quickly found that despite the fact that I was taller than her – something that I would have mentioned in other circumstances – she was more than strong enough to lift me further into the air as it was saturated in bloodlust.

"Oh really? So the fact that your clone said that he was a copy of you and was just acting like you do was a lie?"

I mentally cursed my clone as I braced myself for a long voyage.

* * *

-  
After being thoroughly and savagely interrogated and tortured, it was dinnertime. Of course, due to my clone's actions, I was being held responsible and was sent to the bunks without dinner. I might have gotten off easier if I hadn't opened my big mouth and asked one of the ghost-soldiers if Clarisse was what it was like to have a mom. She didn't like that very much.

I groaned as I flopped into one of the ground, not really willing to put forth the effort to drag myself fully to bed for the time being. Not only that, but the cold steel floor was actually quite nice against some of my more painful bruises. With thoughts of how to apologize on my mind, I slowly drifted off to sleep.

I should've known better than to think I was going to get any rest. Some time after I fell asleep, I had the most bizarre dream.

I was back at the Valley of the End. Sasuke stood on the head of one of the great founders of the Hidden Leaf Village, looking across the waterfall. He looked older, like he was in his twenties or something, too old for the time I'd been gone. I'd imagined him barely changing his look, his black hair spiking backwards, his eyes filled with their usual anger at the world, in a high collared shirt with white shorts. Instead, he looked similar to his brother. His hair had grown out, still spiking out in the back but with a small clump at the back of his head grown out to his mid-back in a loose ponytail. He wore a black muscle shirt with a white gi worn over it, covering his chest with his family crest –a red and white fan- on the back of the gi. White hakama with black bandages on the lower portion of his legs worn in a similar manner that Kakashi had worn his, a black rope belt tied around his waist securing a straight sword behind himself. He also had forearm length fingerless gloves with metal plates on the back of his hands, and black ninja sandals to finish off his look.

As I looked over his face, I felt my heart twist in pain. He seemed impassive, but the rage was still burning brightly as his Sharingan flickered to life; like the calm before the storm. It actually took me a moment before I realized that his eyes were focused on something just out of my sight, his Sharingan spinning rapidly. I tried to turn to whoever it was, but was unable to take my eyes off of Sasuke as his expression turned into a scowl.

I lost interest in turning around as Sasuke spoke, malice laced in every word. "I told you to come alone."

There was a response from someone, but it was muddled, like trying to hear someone's voice while underwater. Another voice spoke up soon after, this one clearer and obviously a guy's voice. "Besides, we all have something we need to do."

Sasuke scoffed. "What? Vengeance for that idiot Naruto?" I glared at Sasuke for the absent sting wanting to yell at him that he was the idiot for saying something like that when I was right there in front of him. "Face it, he's not coming back. Killing me won't bring him back."

A chill ran down my spine as he said that. I couldn't imagine that, being considered dead. What had happened while I was gone that could have convinced anyone that I was dead? A small part of me wanted to smack my head at the thought, memories of the Kyuubi's 'reverse summoning' trick coming back to me. Did that mean that for some reason or another, they had me considered missing in action? Or was my name on the Memorial Stone like other heroes of the past? I really didn't think anyone would think of the second option; I didn't die for my village, and I was just another outcast. Another outcast with a giant furry demon sealed in me, but an outcast nothing the less.

Another voice spoke up, this one a little higher, kind of girly I guess. Once again, I couldn't hear anything she said, but I had a feeling that it was supposed to be a jab at Sasuke, because his scowl disappeared for his old impassive look. "What I'm doing is making up for the mistake I made; blaming the wrong person for what was done to me and my family. Ever since I learned the truth, my eyes were finally opened. I am alone in this world, and no one will stop my vengeance for my brother."

"So you'll just keep killing people until you think you've killed everyone related to your families death? That's crazy!" The second voice said, still surprisingly clear compared to the other two it was with. I tried once again to turn my neck around to see them, but my gaze rested firmly on Sasuke.

"I've already done that." Sasuke replied, a brief look of peace crossing his face before it returned to his previous dark look. "Now I'm finishing their families."

The first and third voice started yelling at Sasuke, both voices overlapping. They sped up and slowed down randomly, continuing to throw off their voices. Then, the second voice spoke again. "You guys, enough."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at this at the first and third person quieted down. "Oh? Do you think you know something that they don't?"

"Yes." He said slowly, as if considering his words carefully. "We've seen what you can do, and that you'll do whatever you can if it gets you to your goal. But, we swore something." He paused dramatically, taking a deep breath before speaking loudly. "We swore, that you wouldn't live to see the end of the war you helped start!"

Sasuke nodded as if agreeing with what he'd said, reaching for the sword behind him. "Well then, I guess that words are pointless at this point."

There were two shouts of Summoning, one of which was in front of Sasuke. From the smoke in front of him, there was a loud noise; a screeching sort of noise that I quickly realized came from a bird that Sasuke had summoned. I can hear the battle cry of the three individuals behind me as a second screech pierces the air and draws me from dreamland.

* * *

I woke up with my head splitting in half, clutching my head as another migraine feels like it is splitting my head in half. The lights flicker around me, adding to my pain. Rolling onto my back, I look around wildly for the source of the screeching. It only takes me a moment to find the loose piece of pipe that has steam hissing out of it. Somehow pushing myself into a standing position, I manage to stumble over to the pipe.

Clasping it in my hands, I give it a violent twist to tighten it. It takes what feels like forever for the sound die down, but it finally becomes less piercing and ebbs away. I let out a small sigh of relief as I take my hands away from the metal. I can vaguely feel a stabbing pain shooting from my right hand, but I ignore it in favor of trying to get the world to stop spinning. I feel a wave of nausea roll over me as the boat tips to one side, and I have to take a deep breath to steady myself.

Most of the other soldiers seem to have retired for the night; sleeping peacefully in their hammocks despite the noise that I thought should have been loud enough to have woken them all up. Shaking my head, knowing that I won't be able to fall asleep again, I head up to the upper deck for some fresh air. Either that or in hopes that if the nausea returns I'll be able to get to the railing and not make a mess in the ship. I really don't care anymore.

As I reach the deck, I take a deep breath. The salty breeze momentarily catches me off guard, the smell different from what I usually wake up to. The ocean's smell is somewhat soothing despite the rocking of the boat, in a way that seems to help my migraine slightly. It's no forest, but it helps.

There is a twitch of guilt as I think that, memories of my home rushing back to me. The dream of Sasuke has reminded me that while I'm here, I'm breaking my promise to Sakura; that I would do whatever I could to bring Sasuke back. For some reason, the nagging voice of Pervy Sage resounds in the back of my head, telling me she's not worth it, and that I should just stay here. It's nice here; the people have taken me in even though they know nothing about me, and have supplied me with the means to get by for the time being. As I think about that however, it begins to worry me.

Why have they just taken me in? Why would they just ignore the fact that the few people I have told where I'm from give me confused looks? That at the mention of being a ninja, they laugh? And when I walk on trees, or ships, they are in awe? What are they trying to get from me?

Too many questions flood my mind, and I'm forced to push them away. I try to rub either side of my head help push away my thoughts only to be given a sharp jolt of pain shooting through my right hand. I bite back the urge to yell at the pain, instead clutching my wrist in my left hand. The pain sends a fresh wave of blinding pain from my migraine, forcing me to my knees. Breathing heavily, I glance down at my hand in confusion. The skin is red with a clear covering of skin, and is immensely painful. I try to simply brush it off, but the pain keeps returning. Unable to help myself, I hiss in pain as I clench and unclench my fist.

"What have you done to yourself now?"

I turn to see Clarisse leaning against the top of the stairway that leads down to the interior of the ship. I'm expecting her to still be mad at me, but I can't tell what her expression is in the dim lighting. I grin halfheartedly as I pick myself up. "Uh, nothing. I just… stubbed my toe."

Clarisse shakes her head at that, obviously not convinced. "Yes, because stubbing your toe makes you fall to your knees? I don't think so." As she walks over to me I stand up, trying to hide my hand behind my back as discreetly as possible. For a second I think I'm alright, but that is quickly blown away as she motions to my hands. "Let me see your hand."

"Okay." I say, holding out my left hand with a nervous smile.

Clarisse's eye twitches slightly as she pushes my left hand away. "Your right hand."

I try to think of something that could distract her from just taking my hand, which makes me just distracted enough for Clarisse to reach behind me and grab my hand. I yelp in pain as her fingers brush over the blisters on my hand. "Yeow! Watch it, that hurts!"

Clarisse ignores me as she stares at my hand. "And you weren't going to get this looked at… because?"

"It's not that bad." I say, trying to brush her off.

"Really?" I feel a sense of foreboding as she asks that. A second later, my fears turn out to be quite justified as she dug a finger into my palm, forcing me to my knees once more. "Then that didn't hurt much, did it?"

I growl at her, wondering why she's doing this. "No, it didn't. Listen, I'm fine, you don't have to worry about me. Honestly, you're..."

Whatever I was going to say gets cut off as I notice a strange look in her eyes. It silences me without hesitation as I bite back what I was going to say. I have a hard time placing the look, but finally realize what the look in her eyes is. Concern. She is genuinely concerned about me, and is worried because I'm trying to hide my injury. I suddenly feel ashamed for trying to hide it from her, and have to avoid making eye contact for the feeling to go away.

"Look, it's just a minor injury. It'll go away in a few days." I mutter. She looks over the burn on my hand intensely, seeming to ignore my halfhearted words. I figured that she was going to hit me or yell at me, so I braced myself. After a moment of silence, I was caught off guard as she sighed.

"Fine, it doesn't look that bad. Let's put some ambrosia on it, to help it heal so you won't be unarmed when we get to the Sea of Monsters." She said, pulling out a small container with ambrosia in it. She lightly poured a little on my hand, and I sighed in content as the pain slowly ebbed away. My hand didn't look much better, but I figured it would take a bit for the ambrosia to heal the burn.

"Thanks." I manage to say with a smile. Having people worry about me and my wellbeing is something new, but I rather like it.

I began to rub the ambrosia in a spiral-like patter on my palm, wincing as some of the pain came back. The blister looks slightly worse than a moment before, but I shrug it off. Clarisse doesn't say anything about it, so I ignore the slight discoloration.

Falling onto my back with a sigh, I stare up at the stars up in the sky. I'm glad for the rocking now that my nausea is gone, giving me something to focus on rather than the pain in my hand. The wind brushing up against my face is cool, though it stings a bit as some of the salty spray comes over the deck. I sigh contently as I watch the lights in the sky flicker brightly.

As I look over the vast sky, I notice a small star in the corner of my vision. Normally I probably wouldn't notice it, but this particular star is different enough to catch my immediate attention. It's growing. No, it's _moving_. And from what I can tell, it's headed straight towards the ship.

"Uh, Clarisse?" I say slowly. "Do stars fall like that normally here?"

Clarisse gave me a confused look before following my gaze. I can tell when she does, because her whole body goes ridged, and I can hear her breathing somewhat erratically. She quickly whirls back to me and yanks me to my feet again, her face flushed and a hint of fear briefly crossing it.. "No, that's not a star."

"Really?" I ask. I'm not usually one to notice the normal little things that most other people notice, but the way Clarisse is acting makes me try and focus on the details of the oncoming object. "Well, if it's not a star, then what is it?"

"That's one of the god's chariots." She manages to whisper out, pulling me into the ship. "Go and wake the crew. If any of them backtalk to you just tell them that Lord Ares, my father, is coming aboard."

**

* * *

**

AN: Hello and Happy Holidays! I know it's been a while, but this chapter was giving me some trouble... along with work and other life stuff. The quality feels a bit less than normal to me, but I'm not sure. If you have any complaints about this chapter let me know.

**The Tantalus prank was... spontanious. I'm pretty sure that is the most humiliating thing I could think of, and didn't really think of anything that I could add that would make it worse for 'poor' Tantalus.**

**Quick question for all you loyal fans! I've read stories with Omake's at the end of them. Seeing as I personally enjoy some of the humorous things that happen in them, I was curious; how many of you like Omake's?**

**You've read, now please... review!**


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